Ruling protects depot workers
This story was published Wed, Jul 28, 2004
By Jeannine Koranda
Herald Oregon bureau
Incineration opponents are hoping a Monday court ruling will delay the start
up of the destruction of chemical weapons at the Umatilla Chemical Depot
by several months, but officials connected with the depot don't foresee delays.
Oregon Circuit Court Judge Michael Marcus ruled in Multnomah County that
the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality must add provisions to the
depot's incineration permit to protect workers who raise safety and environmental
issues.
Attorney Stu Sugarman, who represents incineration opponents GASP and other
groups, praised the decision. "Finally, workers have some protection against
the Army's systematic retribution against whistleblowers," he said. The protections
were necessary because "workers are the first line of defense against a mishap."
The group is hoping the judgment will cause a permit modification that requires
extensive public testimony, delaying the start of incineration at the depot,
he said.
"We expect it to be months if they do it right," Sugarman said.
On Aug. 13 the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission is expected to meet
for a final review of the incinerator's readiness. A change like the one
Sugarman mentioned would put that process on hold.
The Department of Environmental Quality is reviewing the case, and officials
say they are not certain the decision will delay start-up. The depot, 35
miles south of the Tri-Cities, stores 220,604 munitions and containers filled
with 7.4 million pounds of deadly nerve and mustard agents. The chemicals
are set for incineration sometime this summer. Mustard agents stored at the
depot date back to World War II. All the nerve agents were brought to the
depot for storage between 1962 and 1969.
The department is waiting to see what changes the incineration facility submits
in response to the judge's ruling, said Dennis Murphey, administrator of
the Chemical Demil Program for the Environmental Quality Department. He said
it is possible that the changes will be minor enough to still meet the Aug.
13 meeting date for the incinerator's final review.
"We can't tell right now if it is possible to do that or not," he said. "We
don't know when (the modifications) will come in and don't know how long
it will take to review them before we see the documents."
Mary Binder, depot spokeswoman, said the Army was looking at the programs
and seeing what changes need to be made.
The Army and the Department of Defense have toll-free hotlines for people
to call and the Western Demilitarization Co. has an employee concerns program,
she said.
It might be necessary to ensure all employees know about the programs and
how to use them, she said.
Binder also did not think the decision would push back the start-up.
Rick Kelly, spokesman for Washington Group International, which runs the
incineration facility, said the company began a safety and training program
a year ago. One of the components was an employee concerns program, which
people have been using.
Employees can submit concerns either in writing or verbally and can request
confidentiality, he said.
"We already have them in place, I think it's a matter of proving to DEQ we
do have programs in place and have been doing it for over a year," he said.
In the same decision, Marcus denied requests by incineration opponents to
revoke or modify permits. The opponents include the Sierra Club and Oregon
Wildlife Federation in addition to GASP and individual petitioners.