Russians discuss safety at depot

This story was published Sat, Apr 27, 2002

By Karen Zacharias
Herald Oregon bureau

HERMISTON -- The similarities between the Russian town of Shchuch'ye (pronounced "Shoo-che") and Hermiston and Umatilla drew an international delegation Friday.

Alexander Bukhtoyarov, vice governor of the Kurgan region, and Gennady Podtyosov, vice governor of the Chelybinsk region, and 17 other Russians came to talk about the destruction of deadly nerve agents.

"Safety is our most important issue," said Podtyosov, speaking through a translator.

There are 5,460 tons of nerve agent at the Planovy Depot in Russia's Kurgan region, about 1,500 miles southeast of Moscow. The Russian depot spans about 200 acres. The nerve agent in Russia will be destroyed by neutralization rather than incineration, as is to be the case at the Umatilla Chemical Depot. Russian officials hope to begin destruction by 2006 and complete it by 2012.

The Army hopes to begin burns at Umatilla in February 2003 and complete it by 2008.

Much like Hermiston, Shchuch'ye boasts a population of about 12,000 and an agriculture-based economy. Within
68 miles east and west of Shchuch'ye are towns with populations of more than 100,000 people, said Barry Napp, spokesman for the Chemical Demilitarization Cooperative Threat Reduction Program.

However, Russia is just beginning to deal with public awareness and preparedness issues, said Galina Vepreva, an outreach director for Green Cross Russia and a delegation member.

The delegation was organized by Global Green USA, an affiliate of Green Cross International, the group founded by Mikhail Gorbachev meant to help educate, train and increase public involvement in Russia's weapons destruction program.

"I'm sure our governments are doing the right thing to get rid of all the chemical weapons. We'll be able to come to agreement with you without chemical weapons," Vepreva said. "What unifies us is the risk to our lives by chemical weapons."

There are 4.3 million munitions within the Kurgan region containing lethal chemicals such as GB sarin and Russian VX, said Adolph Ernst, product manager for the Cooperative Threat Program and employed by the U.S. Department of Defense to oversee reduction of the chemical weapons threat in Russia.

Umatilla has 220,599 munitions, including rockets, bombs, shells, land mines, spray tanks and 1 ton containers of mustard agent.

Ernst said while there are no explosive devices attached to the Russian munitions, it wouldn't take a bad guy long to figure out how to explode one.

"If just one round of those munitions fell into the wrong hands and was brought into a stadium on a Saturday afternoon, the devastation would make Sept. 11 pale by comparison," Ernst said.

Two rounds of munitions could fit easily into a kid's backpack, he said.

These are just some of the reasons why Congress has allocated $20 million toward security enhancement in the Kurgan region, Ernst said.

He said the events of Sept. 11 have reiterated the need to destroy the world's supply of chemical weapons.

"Every day is important," Ernst said.

Umatilla Mayor George Hash agreed.

"The sooner we can get that stuff destroyed the better off we'll all be," Hash told the delegates.

 

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