Raytheon says depot will meet new EPA standards

This story was published Tue, Aug 1, 2000

By the Herald Oregon bureau

HERMISTON - Incinerators that will be used to destroy the chemical weapons at the Umatilla Chemical Depot will meet new federal environmental emissions standards.

On Sept. 30, 1999, the Environmental Protection Agency passed new, more stringent emissions standards for burning hazardous wastes. During a public hearing in Hermiston Monday night, Raytheon representative Allan Bean said the five incinerators that will be part of the Umatilla incinerator will meet those new standards.

The revised standards limit air emissions of dioxins, mercury, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, acid gas emissions and semi- and low-volatile metals such as cadmium, lead, arsenic and beryllium.

Raytheon, which is building and will operate the incinerator, is required to file a notice to comply with the federal EPA standards.

Once construction is completed on the incinerator, emission control and monitoring techniques will be tested in each incinerator.

Initial plans call for the plant to contain two liquid incinerators, a deactivation furnace, a metal parts furnace and an incinerator to burn the weapons packing materials, called "dunnage."

However, the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the dunnage incinerator is being questioned by the Army, and alternate methods of dealing with the depot's secondary waste are being considered, said Wendell Wrzesinski, chemical weapon disposal project manager.

Bean said once the initial testing of the incinerators is complete, comprehensive testing will be done every five years. Other tests to ensure the incinerators are working properly will be done in between, at 2 1/2-year intervals.

 

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