Depot burning placed on hold

This story was published Wed, Aug 18, 2004

By Jeannine Koranda
Herald Oregon bureau

HERMISTON -- The start of weapons destruction at the Umatilla Chemical Depot, which was expected to begin today, was postponed Tuesday for at least a week because of concerns that arose during final testing.

Depot Commander Lt. Col. David "Doc" Holliday and senior officials want to resolve the issues prior to start-up, said a release issued by the depot.

During final testing of the plant's second liquid incinerator, using industrial chemicals as a surrogate for chemical agents, trace amounts of surrogate vapor were found in the ventilation system's charcoal filter banks, the release said.

Air from the incineration facility passes through the filter banks and is monitored before it goes out of the stacks into the air, said depot spokeswoman Mary Binder.

The system is being evaluated, she said.

The carbon filtration system has been a long-standing concern for local incineration opponent GASP, which fears the system won't stop chemical agents from reaching outside air.

"We said this would happen," said GASP member Karyn Jones.

The filters are part of a 1997 lawsuit, called GASP I, that is to be heard in appellate court Friday and are the primary issue in a second lawsuit, called GASP II, Jones said.

The facility hasn't started burning chemical agents yet, "and already they've been shut down," she said.

The incineration facility at the depot has two liquid incinerators, and the second did not have to be finished with surrogate trial burns before final approval for start-up could be granted.

The plant has two liquid incinerators because of the large amounts of mustard agent to be burned, Binder said.

The surrogate trial burn also took longer than anticipated, so the building still needed to be cleaned and all surrogate material removed, Binder said. "They need to flush lines and things like that before introducing agent to the incinerator."

The goal was to have the final testing finished before startup so surrogate chemicals and actual chemical agents would not be mixed in the building.

Previously, the first pallet of M55 rockets containing GB nerve agent was expected to move into the facility today and the first rocket to be destroyed Thursday.

No munitions will be moved into the building until the issues are resolved, Binder said. She could not say if incineration might occur next week.

 

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