Mid-Columbia news

VX nerve agent next target at Umatilla Chemical Depot

Published Monday, October 15th, 2007

JEANNINE KORANDA, HERALD OREGON BUREAU

HERMISTON -- The Umatilla Chemical Depot could begin its next phase of chemical weapons destruction in early November and start destroying VX nerve agent-filled munitions.

Since the incinerator destroyed the last of the depot's GB sarin-filled projectiles in July, the facility has been getting ready to handle a new type of nerve agent.

Workers at the depot and incinerator are eager to resume burning the weapons, officials said.

"They feel that what they are doing is so important," Hamrick said.

That process has included repairs and modifications to equipment that has worn down over three years of burning sarin nerve agent, adding agent monitors and retraining the work force.

"We've have been rehearsing safe and secure munitions movement using simulated munitions in preparation for the beginning of the VX Campaign," said Depot commander Lt. Col. Bob Stein.

"Even though we've processed 92,000 (sarin-filled) rockets, we want to make sure everyone is on top of their game when we start again," said Doug Hamrick, project manager at the depot for Washington Group International, which built the incinerator and is operating it for the Army.

As they did with sarin, crews at the depot incinerator will begin by destroying the site's 14,519 M55 rockets filled with VX.

Because the rockets still contain explosives and propellant, they are considered the most dangerous of the remaining stockpile, said Don Barclay, depot site project manager. That means the rockets could explode, vaporize the nerve agent and send a deadly plume off the base.

When the sarin-filled M55 rockets were destroyed, it dramatically reduced the potential risk to the public from an accidental release, Barclay said.

Both VX and sarin attack the central nervous system and can cause seizures, paralysis and even death in extreme cases. While the agents cause the same reactions, sarin is considered more dangerous to the public because it evaporates at the rate of water, while VX -- a clear, oily and scentless liquid -- evaporates more like vegetable oil, according to the Army. Its primary danger is through skin contact.

With the VX rockets there is also the potential for more rocket fires. As the incinerator was destroying the sarin-filled rockets, 15 caught fire. In each case the rockets' sarin had already been drained out.

The fires all occurred in one of two heavily reinforced rooms designed to withstand explosions and no nerve agent escaped the rooms.

The VX rockets stored at the Umatilla Chemical Depot still have the same propellant as their sarin counterparts.

"I think the best approach is to be prepared for the same frequency of rocket fires," Barclay said.

When the incinerator restarts, crews will also resume burning agent-contaminated secondary waste such as the protective suits workers wear when working in a toxic environment, Barclay said.

Currently, the depot is storing waste contaminated by sarin and will soon have VX-contaminated items, which include protective suits and wooden pallets. Barclay hopes to have waste contaminated with both agents gone by the time the VX munitions are destroyed in about 1 1/2 years.

Destroying the rockets is expected to take about four months, he said.

The Oregon site also has 32,313 155mm projectiles, 3,752 8-inch projectiles, 11,685 mines and 156 spray tanks and a singe one ton container stored in its VX cache.

When the VX-filled weapons are gone, the site will go through a final change over and begin destroying its 2,635 one-ton containers of mustard blister agent.