Several years ago in newspapers, televised news and public meetings,
I was actively involved in keeping a private hazardous waste
incinerator far from my family and the public. Now, the same types
of incinerators are operating in Tooele County.

The Tooele Transcript-Bulletin has published articles about current
problems with Army incineration stacks at the Deseret Chemical
Depot. These articles identify a system that does not now, nor has
it ever provided safe, dependable or accurate protection to the
public. KSL TV News reported these concerns when they referred to a
letter to the editor from Mr. Tom Cramer, who is one of the most
experienced experts in the country on chemical agent sampling
equipment, and who is currently working at the Deseret Chemical
Depot.

It is my understanding that Army General Kern stated that each of
the questions/comments posed by Mr. Cramer would be answered by the
DCD Commander, Col. Cooper, and so Mr. Cramer was invited to the
recent Citizens Advisory Commission Meeting to hear the complete
answers to his questions. This generated a large attendance of
people at the meeting who also were interested in hearing these
questions answered.

When I read in the Tooele Transcript-Bulletin about the meeting I
wish I could say that I was surprised when I did not find even one
answer for any of the concerns that were in Mr. Cramer's letter.
Evidently, Commander Cooper and his managers totally (or
conveniently) ignored the order from General Kern to answer these
specific questions. The State Oversight Regulators present at the
meeting appeared to have very limited skill with incinerator stack
sampling and chose to remain quiet in front of the Community
Commission members. Hopefully, a minor issue regarding an air hose
was handled by a three-minute phone call to the plant, but the much
larger problems concerning the stack that were made public by Mr.
Cramer and by Mr. David Yarbrough, which were the stated reason for
the meeting, were ignored.

The Army has kept the incinerator operating, but has failed to
respond to compliance issues as promised. As others have said, each
of us has witnessed the Army covering up problems that have been
reported by professional employees who have to deal with the same
frustrating and complex problems on a daily basis.

It has been clear to all concerned for some time now that the
Deseret Chemical Depot has been caught in poor agent sampling. All
that is left for us to see is whether or not the DCD will ever
accept responsibility for this failure. Will the Army treat
incineration sampling in the same way that they treated the 3,000
sheep gassed in 1967 or the many soldiers who suffer from serious
illnesses after the Army assured them that Agent Orange was
"perfectly safe"? The cover-up is over! Will the government make
things right for Mr. Cramer, Mr. Yarbrough, and others who have
taken the terrible risk of putting their heads on the "chopping
block" to compel the Army to sample the incinerator stacks reliably
and accurately for our safety?

Ruth Bradfield
Leamington, Utah