Fate of depot burn permit up in the air

This story was published Tue, Oct 22, 2002

By Karen Zacharias
Herald Oregon bureau

HERMISTON -- The Army would have to find another way to destroy the chemical weapons stored at the Umatilla Chemical Depot, 30 miles south of the Tri-Cities, if a Multnomah County judge finds that state regulators unlawfully issued a permit to burn the chemicals.

Three anti-incineration groups -- GASP, Oregon Wildlife Federation and the Sierra Club -- along with 20 Umatilla and Morrow County residents are seeking to have the Army's permit to burn revoked.

They have filed suit against the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, alleging that incineration is not a safe means of destroying the 3,717 tons of VX, sarin and mustard agent stored at Umatilla.

The trial begins Wednesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court before Judge Michael H. Marcus.

Karyn Jones of GASP, an anti-incineration group, said she's as eager as any other Hermiston resident to see the dangerous stockpile of weapons destroyed, but not by incineration.

"We want to make sure the chemical weapons are destroyed safely. We don't want them here," Jones said. "But we want the permit revoked because we don't believe burning chemical weapons is a safe means of disposal."

The nation's incineration program is an utter failure, said Bob Palzer, a retired organic chemist who specialized in health sciences and volunteers with the Sierra Club.

"Every facility dealing with the destruction of the chemical weapons is shut down pending some investigation. We think that's pretty damning evidence," he said.

Palzer also pointed out Oregon regulators have stopped the Umatilla incinerator's test burns because heavy metals such as lead and chromium have exceeded allowable emission standards, some by as much as twice the limit.

Palzer said he believes evidence that will be presented during the estimated five-week trial will prove incineration is not a safe or efficient means of destroying the weapons.

"Every step of the way, the state regulators, the Army and the Army's contractors look like the Three Stooges," he said.

Craig Williams of the Kentucky-based Chemical Weapons Working Group, an anti-incineration outfit, said the trial is important because "None of this evidence has been before a judge before. We've never had our day in court."

But state regulators disagree. There has been plenty of opportunity for public input, said Wayne Thomas, program manager for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. "We allowed substantial opportunity for people to be part of the process."

Thomas added that Oregon has set a high regulatory standard, noting that Army brass has referred to the state regulatory agency as "burdensome."

The Army and Washington Demilitarization Co., the contractor hired to burn the deadly chemical weapons, are intervenors in the court case.

 

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