Views on chemical burning sought

Published Oct. 24, 2001

Karen Zacharias
Herald Oregon bureau

HERMISTON - Oregon's Department of Environmental Quality wants to know if neighbors think the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility is ready to move ahead with the burning of deadly nerve agents.

The DEQ sent out a notice this week requesting comments on the latest modifications proposed for the Army's burn permit. Any comment helps, said Wayne Thomas, the agency's administrator for the chemical disposal program.

"I think the public should be aware of how rigorous a process DEQ is proposing to make sure the facility is operating the way it's permitted to operate. And you should tell us if you don't like it, or tell us if you do," he said.

Thomas said the latest modifications to the permit are just a matter of making it clear that DEQ has oversight of the incinerator.

"In the original permit it's implied that we will have oversight but not explicit. We want to make that oversight explicit," he said.

To help ensure the Army is ready, the DEQ has drafted a checklist of 31 foremost issues that will have to be settled before the agency will give the Army permission to light the fires.

Mary Binder, spokeswoman for the Umatilla Army Depot, said officials "agree in concept" with DEQ's concerns. However, she said, the Army will reserve its comments until further review of the agency's checklist.

Perhaps the biggest issue on the checklist is how the Army will deal with secondary waste.

"It's pretty clear the Army intends to propose different options to treating secondary waste streams," Thomas said. Those treatments will have to be identified and approved before any agent is burned, he said.

Other checklist items require at least eight trial runs with the rocket models and that plans for all trial burns be submitted 180 days in advance. The requirements are to help ensure public safety, Thomas said.

"Incineration is a delicate process. It's not just a matter of turning a switch on. This checklist is so that the Army understands what's expected of them," he added.

The Army plans to start trial burns on models of chemical weapons in May 2002. Incineration of the depot's 250,000 chemical-laden rockets won't begin until February 2003.

A copy of the checklist is available on request. The public can comment on the proposed modifications at a public hearing at 7 p.m. Nov. 29 at Good Shepherd Medical Center, 610 N.W. 11th St., Hermiston.

Mail comments to DEQ Chemical Demilitarization Program, 256 E. Hurlburt, Suite 105, Hermiston, 97838. Or e-mail them to markham.trisha@deq.state.or.us. Fax is 541-567-4741.

 

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