Dummy rockets arrive to help test incinerator at Umatilla depot

This story was published Fri, Jan 12, 2001

By Mary Hopkin
Herald Oregon bureau

HERMISTON - During a first glance at the long dark cylinders stacked on high, wooden pallets inside the igloos, one might think they were getting a glimpse at the real thing - thousands of 155 mm rockets.

But instead of being filled with nerve agent, these are filled with antifreeze.

These dummy rockets are the munitions that will be used to test the chemical weapons incinerator being built at the Umatilla Chemical Depot, seven miles west of Umatilla. The incinerator is meant to destroy the 3,717 tons of deadly nerve and mustard agents stored there.

Since December, flatbed trucks have been hauling in the dummy munitions from Utah, where they were leftover from testing done on the incinerators at the Tooele Demilitarization Facility.

Lt. Col. Tom Woloszyn said 17 of the 50 trucks have arrived carrying a variety of the antifreeze-filled rockets and prototypes.

After all have been delivered, the depot will have dummy munitions for each of every type it already stores on base - 155 mm projectiles, 8-inch projectiles, M55 rockets and interchangeable rockets, 500-pound bombs, 750-pound bombs, spray tanks and bulk ton containers, which are used to store mustard.

The simulated munitions will be used not only for testing the mechanical operations of the incinerator, but also to train forklift operators and drivers in moving the cargo.

"Since the rockets are the most hazardous to handle, we'll put them in an igloo so the forklift drivers can get used to picking and moving the pallets," said George Newman, chief of the chemical ammunition division.

It's not an easy job.

For instance, each pallet of the 6-foot long 155 mm rockets weighs 1,360 pounds.

But the training is meant to be as realistic as possible, Newman said.

That's why the munitions are stored in the igloos in identical patterns to those on K-block.

In fact, the only difference is the color and marking of the munitions and its contents.

The munitions are filled with antifreeze in case the temperature inside the igloo drops below freezing, Newman said. Water would expand and cause the rockets to break, he explained.

Army representative Jim Hackett said construction on the incinerator plant, being built by Washington Demilitarization Company is 93 percent complete.

Testing of the incinerators can begin once the incinerator plant is finished and Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber is satisfied that Umatilla and Morrow county emergency operations are prepared to handle a chemical emergency.

Hackett said testing is expected to start by late this year.

The Army expects to start destroying the chemical weapons by the end of 2002.

 

Copyright 2002 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.