DEQ seeks safety guarantee of new Hermiston incinerator

This story was published Thu, Jul 13, 2000

By Mary Hopkin
Herald Oregon bureau

HERMISTON - The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality wants a guarantee from the Army that the chemical weapons incinerator being built near Hermiston will be safe.

The department grew concerned the Army has not developed successful operating procedures after reviewing four individual reports about a May 8 chemical release at the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Utah, said Wayne Thomas, DEQ Chemical Demilitarization Program administrator.

Wednesday, the DEQ sent a letter to James Bacon, the Army's program manager for chemical demilitarization, asking for his response to the Tooele release and investigation.

"Our confidence in the future operation at Umatilla has been shaken based upon the findings presented in the four investigation reports," Thomas said.

"The fundamental question the Army must answer is 'who is responsible for the integration of all operations at (the depot), and what assurances do the citizens of Oregon have that the lessons learned from this event (and any previous events) will be applied to Umatilla?" Thomas wrote to Bacon.

As Tooele workers were repairing the incinerator in May, 20 to 35 milligrams of sarin nerve agent was released from a furnace through an exhaust stack. Army officials estimated the dangerous gas traveled about 8 feet from the stack at a level 3.5 times that allowed by the Army's permit.

Also, the Army didn't contact emergency officials immediately afterward.

Col. Ed Pate, commander of the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, said there was a four-hour gap between the time the leak was detected and when the Tooele County Emergency Management center was notified.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the release was too small to threaten Tooele workers or public health, but Utah officials halted the incinerator operations until the Army fully investigates.

The Army's chemical demilitarization plan includes seven U.S. sites. Two sites, Tooele and Johnston Atoll near Hawaii, have operating incinerator plants. Incinerators are being built at the other five.

Army spokeswoman Mary Binder said the Army shares information between all seven facilities to try to learn from mistakes made.

But Thomas fears the Army's information-sharing program isn't working.

"There is no documented evidence that the lessons learned from either the Chemical Demilitarization Operations manual or the Programmatic Lessons Learned have been implemented at (Tooele)," Thomas said.

 

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