Evacuation drill successful at depot

This story was published Thu, Nov 16, 2000

By Mary Hopkin
Herald Oregon bureau

UMATILLA - When the piercing whine of the sirens shrieked through the Umatilla Chemical Depot about 9 a.m. Tuesday, everyone knew what to do.

More than 900 Washington Group employees at the depot quickly evacuated the construction site where the contractor is building an incinerator plant to destroy the 7.4 million pounds of deadly nerve and mustard agents stored at the depot, seven miles west of Hermiston.

Emergency operations managers in Umatilla, Morrow and Benton counties took their positions at command posts.

Even the National Guard flew in from Salem.

But, although it looked and sounded real, it was all just an elaborate test of emergency preparedness at the depot.

Depot Commander Lt. Col. Thomas F. Woloszyn was pleased. "Today's performance was the best so far," he said. "Everything went smoothly."

The more than 1,400 depot employees, county emergency operators and Washington Group employees who participated in the exercise were told there was a fire in an igloo filled with rockets containing GB sarin, a deadly nerve gas. And they were told gas had been released into the air and was traveling north toward Benton County.

Area medical personnel got the real workout as a dozen employees feigned nerve gas exposure.

Maj. Jose Ortiz, director of the depot's medical facility, said his seven-man medical team coordinated with Washington Group's medical staff to treat the ill workers.

"Twelve patients is a lot to handle, and it took a lot of coordination and juggling to make it come together," Ortiz said.

Ortiz had additional help from the Oregon National Guard out of Salem. A National Guard helicopter, two pilots and two medics were on standby in Pendleton and flew to the depot when the sirens sounded.

"It was a good opportunity for us to train together," Ortiz said.

Ambulances were sent from the Hermiston Fire Department, which transported the "injured" to Good Shepherd Health Care System as part of the test.

The exercise also gave the Army a chance to test some new monitoring equipment at K Block, where the chemical weapons are stored.

Woloszyn said the Army has installed cameras around K Block, allowing those in the depot's emergency operations center to see what's happening in the area without putting themselves in danger.

"If a rocket is on fire, we can't send our people in there," Woloszyn said. "The system allows us to see what's going on and know when it's safe to go in."

Woloszyn said the next full-scale test exercise is scheduled for May.

 

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