Success of depot tests reaching critical mass

This story was published Sun, Dec 22, 2002

By Karen Spears Zacharias
Herald Oregon bureau

UMATILLA -- The hundreds of people who work at the Umatilla Chemical Depot understand the importance of mini-trial burns.

They know that unless the Army's contractor can successfully prove it can burn test materials, they are not going to be able to burn one drop of nerve agent. Some worry that failing the next round of mini-test burns could cost them their jobs.

But the Army's contractor is confident that's not going to happen. After two unsuccessful burns in which the Washington Demilitarization Co. failed to meet the state regulatory guidelines, officials believe they finally figured out the problem and fixed it.

They hope to prove that on Dec. 29 when workers again begin feeding industrial solvents and industrial degreasers spiked with heavy metals into the fiery incinerator.

"We conducted a thorough evaluation of the plant, and we are confident that we have (fixed the problems)," said spokesman Rick Kelley.

Even state regulators are hoping that old adage about the third time being the charm proves true.

"We have our fingers crossed," said Sue Oliver, acting program administrator for Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

Oliver said it's imperative the Army pass this next test.

"If they fail this next mini-test burn there will be quite a public outcry, and rightfully so," Oliver said. "I think everybody, the public included, will be well within their rights to ask, 'What's going on? Why is Umatilla failing these standards?' "

In two previous burns, toxic metals exceeded the state's allowable emissions limits. After the last burn in September, the liquid furnace was shut down.

The mini-test burn is meant to enable the Army's contractor to prove that the furnace, which is designed to destroy liquid nerve agent, can meet the regulatory emissions standards.

The contractor tests the liquid furnace by burning an industrial solvent and an industrial degreaser spiked with heavy metals, such as chromium, lead and arsenic. The idea is to mimic the sort of toxic metals that will be generated during nerve agent burns. The Army hopes to begin burning the 3,717 tons of deadly VX, sarin and blister agent in July.

The first mini-test burn was conducted in August, and five toxic metals -- arsenic, chromium, lead, nickel and antimony -- exceeded allowable emissions limits. During a second test burn conducted over a four-day period in September, the metal spikes were reduced 85 percent. But two toxic metals, lead and chromium, still exceeded the allowable emissions limits. State regulators told the Army to stop burning spiked solvents until the contractor could figure out the problem.

Umatilla is considered a third-generation plant. The Army successfully has destroyed all the agent stored at Johnston Atoll and all of the sarin munitions at Tooele, Utah, although it still has VX to burn. And the Army is getting ready to destroy agent in Anniston, Ala.

The incineration complex at Umatilla is modeled after the Anniston facility. The two are neck-and-neck in agent destruction, but Anniston has the lead.

Yet nearly everyone is flummoxed by the toxic metal problem, which doesn't affect Anniston.

"We're not any different than Anniston. It doesn't make sense," Oliver said.

Even the Alabama regulators have been perplexed by Umatilla's problem, said Fred Barnes, environmental engineer for the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

"We're probably as puzzled as they are," Barnes said. "We were absolutely surprised by their results."

Alabama already had received its preliminary test data back on their test burns when Umatilla conducted its August burns. "Our metals emissions looked good," Barnes said.

Heavy metal emissions during test burns were never a problem for Anniston, although its allowable emissions levels are considered the most stringent among the nation's depot sites. But Barnes said Anniston's emissions levels are only slightly more stringent than Umatilla's.

"It's not much," he said.

But there were differences between the tests. Umatilla attempted to burn more pounds of test solvents than Anniston did, Oliver said. That produced a higher chlorine content. And chlorine is very corrosive on the furnace's pipes and seals and such, she explained.

And there's a difference in the way the emissions at the two sites are documented. In Anniston, the emissions were measured before and after they passed through a carbon filter. In Oregon, the standard has been to measure the emissions before they pass through the carbon filter. Oliver said that's because the state wants the emissions standard to be met before it passes through the carbon filter in the exhaust stack.

Barnes said the emissions levels in Anniston "were considerably better with the carbon filter than without it."

But he said Alabama's regulators made it a part of their game plan that the heavy metals should be below the allowable emissions levels prior to passing through the carbon filter. Barnes said all their tests on emissions levels have been within the state's guidelines, even without the carbon filters.

Oliver said there's a reason for all this testing.

"They are trying to figure out the operation range for a wide variety of instrumentation," she said. And the contractor is pushing the limits of the furnace in the process, to see what works and what doesn't, she added.

Oliver said there's no way to know if the furnace can operate as designed to without moving ahead with the next mini-test burn. She's concerned not only about how far the furnace is being pushed, but also how much workers are.

"I'm concerned about the amount of pressure everybody is putting them under. The regulators, the media, the public, themselves. I'd rather they put the pressure on doing the test right, than passing the test," Oliver said.

Kelley echoed her concerns. "We want to pass every test," he said. "We'll begin ... trial burns when we -- equipment and people -- are ready."

n Reporter Karen Spears Zacharias can be reached at 541-567-6748 or via e-mail at kzacharias@tri-cityherald.com.

 

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