Depot suit to be refiled by lawyers

This story was published Thu, Jan 18, 2001

By The Associated Press and Herald staff

HERMISTON - Lawyers for workers who claim the Army and its contractor lied about deadly leaks of sarin and mustard gas at the Umatilla Chemical Depot plan to refile their lawsuit, which was dismissed by a federal judge on a technicality.

U.S. District Judge Ancer Haggerty ruled the 18 construction workers filed the lawsuit before giving the Army or its contractor, Raytheon Demilitarization, 90 days notice as required under federal environmental cleanup laws.

Haggerty issued his ruling in December but made it final last week after rejecting a written appeal from W. Eugene Hallman, one of the attorneys representing the workers who became mysteriously ill on Sept. 15, 1999, while building the depot's incinerator plant.

James McCandlish, of the Portland law firm Griffin McCandlish which represents the workers, said he plans to refile the suit within a week. "This was totally technical and something we have to deal with," he said.

The original lawsuit was filed in July and asked Haggerty to halt construction of the incinerator seven miles west of Hermiston. Accompanying that lawsuit was a 300-page investigative report completed by the firm that claimed the Army misrepresented facts "when it denied that any nerve gas was detected on the date of the incident."

Last month, McCandlish published an update to that investigation that claims the Army "knew deadly sarin and mustard gases were the cause and deliberately covered it up."

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality said it reviewed McCandlish's report but came to different conclusions while using the same data.

The lawsuit sought damages for the workers, many of whom claim to suffer from continuous respiratory problems since the accident.

Investigations by the Army, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Oregon DEQ ruled out chemical agents as the cause of the incident. But the exact circumstances that led to the episode remain a mystery.

In all, 34 workers were treated at Good Shepherd Health Care System after becoming overwhelmed by fumes while working on the incinerator. None of the workers was treated at the hospital for chemical exposure, and only one victim was hospitalized overnight.

Meanwhile, the television news show 60 Minutes may be delving into the workers claims as well.

Depot spokeswoman Mary Binder said Tom Flynn, who has previously produced two pieces on the depot for Eye on America and 60 Minutes, is working on a follow-up to his March 1998 60 Minutes program.

 

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