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Biologist describes incinerator safetyThis story was published Wed, Apr 7, 1999
STANFIELD - Working for three years near the Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (JACADS) in the Pacific Ocean has convinced Donna O'Daniel the nerve agent incineration process is safe. O'Daniel is serving as the wildlife biologist at the Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific Ocean, the same site where the Army has been incinerating chemical nerve agents since 1990. Disposal of all the stockpile there is expected to be complete by the end of 2000. A similar incineration plant is under construction at the Umatilla Chemical Depot -which stores nearly 14 percent of the nation's chemical weapons - and is to begin operation in 2002. At the invitation of the Army, O'Daniel spoke Tuesday morning to Umatilla and Echo High school students, then finished up at Stanfield High School in the afternoon. Today, O'Daniel is speaking at 9:30 a.m. at Riverside High School in Boardman and at 1:15 p.m. at Hermiston High School. "The message is it lets them know the military can operate a chemical incineration plant in the middle of a natural wildlife refuge safely to the wildlife, environment and the people that live there," O'Daniel said. About 1,300 people work at Johnston Atoll, a small stretch of land near the center of the North Pacific between the Hawaiian and Marshall islands. About 170 of those are military personnel assigned to JACADS. O'Daniel showed slides of seabirds and other wildlife from Johnston Atoll and presented sta tistics showing numbers of most species of wildlife in the area are increasing. "We have to keep track of the populations to see if the numbers are going up or down," O'Daniel said. "Ever since we have been keeping track, the numbers have gone up dramatically." O'Daniel said one test was done on one type of bird that nests upwind and downwind from the incineration plant. "What we found was that there was no difference in the percentage of reproductive success," O'Daniel said. "We feel this is a good indication that the plant isn't hurting the wildlife in the area. Johnston is a great place to do that kind of a study. It's isolated and it's small, so it's very conducive to getting good baseline data and studying data over time." O'Daniel said any wildlife that have disappeared from the area did so after humans arrived but before the incineration plant was built. "The albatross used to nest at Johnston but no longer does. But all of the negative impacts occurred long before JACADS was at Johnston Atoll," she said. With wildlife now flourishing, O'Daniel feels just fine working near the incinerator plant. "I feel very safe at Johnston," O'Daniel said. "There are all kinds of safety measures taken by the military to make it an extremely safe place to work and to live. I think the Army's doing a tremendous job. "I believe in the destruction of these weapons, and I think this is the way to go about it. If there were any negative impact to the environment, I would be the first to wave a flag. My salary doesn't come from the Army." At the end of her slide presentation, O'Daniel drew parallels between JACADS and the incineration plant being built at the Umatilla Chemical Depot. "Every precaution will be taken here in the building and operation of the plant that have been taken at Johnston Atoll," she said. O'Daniel was accompanied to the schools by Geoff Tyree of the Umatilla Chemical Stockpile Outreach office in Hermiston. Tyree told Stanfield students testing will be a major part of the incineration plant here during the operating process, just as it has been at JACADS. "Several areas in the community will be monitored," Tyree said. "There will be testing done on soil and water and vegetation. Soon, the Army will be taking baseline samples to see where levels are now, and it will be traced over the length of the project over the next 10 years." | |
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