Federal team probes Umatilla depot's effect on cities

This story was published Fri, Apr 6, 2001

By Mary Hopkin
Herald Oregon bureau

HERMISTON - An independent analysis team sent by the secretary of Defense is interviewing officials in Umatilla and Morrow counties this week to investigate potential financial effects on communities caused by the Umatilla Chemical Depot.

The investigation comes as the result of congressional action last fall in the Defense Authorization Act that directed the secretary of Defense to assess the effects of Army chemical weapons sites on surrounding communities.

The report is supposed to recommend whether those communities should receive federal money to compensate for the effect of the depots.

Umatilla and Morrow counties have joined others in the nation in seeking impact aid.

Umatilla County Commissioner Dennis Doherty said the depot's legacy mars the county's landscape.

"In the 1940s, they came in, threw it together real fast, brought in thousands of workers that had to be housed, with children that had to be schooled," he said.

He said the result today is some substandard houses and unimproved streets.

Now the Army is building a massive incinerator at the depot just outside of Hermiston to burn the 7.4 million pounds of deadly nerve and mustard agents stored there. And Doherty said the legacy of that project won't be much different - another boom and bust cycle.

Thousands of workers are being brought in to build the incinerator. After construction, about 600 will operate the incinerator as the weapons are destroyed.

Then the workers will be gone.

"They won't be around to pay the bills that accumulate in the meantime, which includes a portion of the Hermiston School District bond," Doherty said.

Irrigon Mayor Linda Fox is concerned about infrastructure. The small city's streets are sometimes overcrowded with depot employees and the city is having to build a new sewer system - a project residents will be taxed for over the next 30 years.

"The people left here after the project is finished will have to pay for it," Fox said.

Morrow County Planner Tamara Mabbott said many effects can't be quantified now - like ground water quality.

Also, having the depot as a neighbor may make some companies think twice about moving to the area.

"There's a stigma factor," Doherty said. "One county has had some very large businesses show interest but not locate there because of its proximity to the depot."

The team is conducting interviews at communities surrounding all eight Army depots in the country and will take its analysis back to the Department of Defense, which will then present it to Congress with a recommendation.

The team, which has visited five of the depot sites already, is expected to have its report completed by June 30.

 

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