Umatilla mayor, officials make plea for commercial air filters

This story was published Thu, Aug 5, 2004

By Jeannine Koranda
Herald Oregon bureau

PENDLETON - A nerve agent accident at the Umatilla Chemical Depot will leave "a lot of dead people" if the county doesn't provide commercial air filters, said Umatilla Mayor George Hash.

"The city of Umatilla, because of prevailing winds, has a greater risk than Hermiston, Pendleton, Athena or the tribes," Hash told Umatilla County commissioners during a Wednesday meeting.

He and other city officials and members of the public made impassioned pleas that residents receive recirculating air filters, allowing people to shelter in place for about 30 minutes longer during an emergency.

The commissioners are reconsidering their decision in May not to pay $500,000 to buy and distribute 1,420 commercial air filters.

Wednesday, commissioners postponed their decision until a meeting at 10 a.m. Aug. 12 after they've had more time to study the new information. Even if they agree to give out filters, the depot may start burning World War II-era chemical weapons as soon as Aug. 18.

The filters, which come with a separate 100 percent carbon filter to use in case of a depot emergency, cost $300 each, plus a $20 delivery fee.

The filters would be distributed to people living in an area from the Umatilla County line east to Interstate 82, and from the Umatilla Chemical Depot boundary north to the Columbia River.

Boyd Sharp, who moved to Umatilla three years ago, told commissioners, "I don't believe that $300 for my wife and I is an outlandish amount of money to spend" to keep us safe.

Without the additional filters, a resident in Umatilla now faces a 1 in 270,000 chance of dying from a depot accident, according to emergency management figures.

Statistics shouldn't matter in the decisions on whether to approve the filters, Hash said. "If we went by percentages, nobody would ever buy lottery tickets."

He said the cost is justified by the additional safety for people, "Unless you want to write off the people of Umatilla as expendable."

But Sam Nobles, who has lived in Umatilla since 1943, said enough money has been spent on public safety near the depot.

"I recommend not giving (the air filters) to the people in my end of the county. I just don't see the expense of it," he said.

Umatilla City Councilman David Trott said air filters should be given to everyone in the immediate response zones, which include Umatilla, the McNary area and south to Punkin Center Road, at the northern edge of Hermiston.

But Cheryl Seigal, spokeswoman for Umatilla's Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program, said including the additional area would more than double the current proposed cost.

The additional area equals 1,599 more recirculating air filters at a cost of $511,680 more, bringing the total price to more than $1.5 million.

Trott noted money didn't seem to be an issue when the county spent $26 million on Umatilla and Morrow counties on emergency preparations for overpressurizing schools, shelter-in-place kits and a tactical radio system., when Umatilla is at more risk than Hermiston.

Susan Jones, with the local anti-incineration group GASP, read a statement urging commissioners to approve the program and to distribute filters to all county residents in the immediate response zone. That would cost $4.9 million.

Umatilla City Manager Larry Clucas agreed Umatilla should get the additional protection since the town is at highest risk.

Previously, Umatilla city officials complained they did not have a chance to participate in the filter decision. After the meeting, Clucas said he believed commissioners heard their concerns.

Umatilla County Commissioner Emile Holeman said he did not hear anything to change his mind about purchasing filters.

And Commissioner Dennis Doherty said he got the impression that more people were starting to question if some of the public safety measures were really more about obtaining more things and money. He declined to say if Wednesday's testimony changed his mind.

Commissioner Bill Hansel said he wasn't totally convinced the air filters were a good use of money and pointed out that the filters' effectiveness required that they be used correctly in an emergency situation.

* Reporter Jeannine Koranda can be reached at 541-567-4459 or via e-mail at jkoranda@tri-cityherald.com.

 

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