Army still checking out sealer found at depot

This story was published Sat, Apr 21, 2001

By the Herald Oregon bureau

UMATILLA - Army officials had no more information Friday about the toxic sealant found Wednesday at the Umatilla Chemical Depot.

Mary Binder, Army spokesman, said the Army still is trying to determine whether the toxic sealant was being used inside the incinerator building Sept. 15, 1999, when 34 construction workers became mysteriously ill.

Employees were doing a routine inventory of the flammable materials storage unit Wednesday about 12:15 p.m. when they ran across a previously opened bottle labeled methyl ethyl ketone peroxide.

Lt. Col. Tom Woloszyn said the sicknesses could have been caused "by almost anything" and was not ready to pin the blame on the straw-colored, highly toxic substance, which is a fiberglass resin hardener used to seal tanks.

The sealant has been used on base since February 1999.

The substance causes a variety of symptoms if inhaled, ingested or contacts the eyes or skin. It can cause irritation to the eyes, skin, nose and throat; cause coughing, breathing difficulty and pulmonary edema; blurred vision; blisters and skin scarring; abdominal pain; vomiting; diarrhea; dermatitis; and liver and kidney damage.

Woloszyn is certain, however, that the illnesses were not caused by the nerve agents sarin and VX, which are packed inside bombs and missiles at the depot.

Portland lawyer James McCandlish, who represents the 18 workers, said he would have to investigate the sealant further.

"But it doesn't explain the finding of chemical agent inside the building or outside the building," McCandlish said. "The sudden appearance almost two years later of a half-open bottle of this stuff is very interesting."

 

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