By Jeannine Koranda, Herald Oregon bureau
HERMISTON -- Destruction of
rockets filled with sarin nerve agent was shut down Friday at the Umatilla
Chemical Depot incinerator after the sixth case of a rocket catching fire
as it was being cut apart. As with a fire Dec. 5, the
accident began on the second of two processing lines as a blade was making
the fifth of seven cuts through the M55 GB rocket motor, depot officials
said. The fire started at 10:38 a.m. after the chemical weapon's deadly nerve
agent had been drained. The room where the fire occurred
is heavily reinforced to contain any possible fires or explosions. Since the
fires began happening in late July, the facility has added fire suppression
systems to minimize damage. Previous fires happened July
29, April 7 and 23 and May 18.
Incinerator operators expected
to restart destruction of the antiquated Army munitions Friday evening on
the first processing line where the fire did not happen, but there was no
projection for when the second line would restart. Tests done on nine rocket motors
sent to an Army lab at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., for testing in June showed
nitroglycerin in the rockets' propellant had separated and pooled on the propellant
grains. That could be the possible
cause of the fires. The lab is testing other rocket
motors from a depot facility in Pine Bluff, Ark. and results are expected
sometime in January.