Umatilla depot answers to concerned residents

This story was published Wed, Aug 18, 2004

By Jeannine Koranda
Herald Oregon bureau

Colleen Paul of Kennewick has been concerned about what she needs to do to prepare for an accident at the Umatilla Chemical Depot.

On Tuesday, a 20-page booklet designed by depot staff went out as an insert in the Herald, containing the history of the depot, the chemicals stored there, how the destruction process works and phone numbers to contact for emergency preparation.

While it was well done, Paul wished there had been more information about preparedness.

"Or that when the wind blows, it won't carry (chemical agents) to the Tri-Cities or that it will dissipate by then," she said.

Paul isn't the only one with concerns. Benton County Emergency Management has been swamped with phone calls, said spokesman Steve Sautter.

In Benton County, only Plymouth and Paterson have alarm sirens and fall into the emergency response zone, he said.

The northernmost border for the depot's emergency planning zone is Sellards Road, near Locust Grove, which is about 5 to 10 miles from the Tri-Cities' southern border, Sautter said.

Tri-Citians would not need to shelter-in-place or evacuate if an accident occurred at the depot, emergency officials say.

While the wind could carry any chemicals accidentally released, it also would dissipate them, Sautter said. Studies show that "more than likely (the chemical agents) wouldn't even get across the (Columbia) river."

In an emergency, Interstate 82 would be closed going south and people close to the depot would be evacuated to Horse Heaven Elementary School in Kennewick and Housel Middle School in Prosser, Sautter said.

The depot, 35 miles south of the Tri-Cities, stores 220,604 munitions and containers filled with 7.4 million pounds of deadly nerve and mustard agents. Destruction of chemical agents could start as soon as next week.

Mustard agents stored at the depot date to World War II. The nerve agents were brought to the depot from 1962-69.

In Umatilla and Morrow counties, where the majority of population around the depot lives, there have been no phone calls to the emergency management departments, said Maureen Roxbury, Morrow County Emergency Management spokeswoman.

Boardman and Irrigon residents are told to shelter-in-place using kits equipped with plastic and duct tape to create a safe room, she said.

That is a short-term measure lasting two to six hours, Roxbury said. The best rooms to use have no exterior-facing walls and are on the second floor.

While the Army Outreach Office in Hermiston has not been receiving more calls since the booklets went out, there has been an increased number of visitors asking questions, said manager Steve Meyers. Everyone asks essentially the same question, "Will the disposal facility harm me and my family?"

The increase in visitors followed a pattern similar to what has occurred before the startup of other chemical weapons disposal facilities, Meyers said.

After reading the insert and finding out her family wasn't at risk, Paul said she felt more comfortable. "Now that I know I'm not going to be affected by it, I want them to do it," she said.

 

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