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Large Sarin Containers Leaking at Umatilla
Four large storage containers holding sarin are beginning to leak at the U.S. Army Umatilla Chemical Depot in Oregon, the Hermiston Herald reported yesterday (see GSN, March 8). “The contents have started to deteriorate the containers. This is a no-win situation,” said depot commander Lt. Col David “Doc” Holliday. Acids used in 1984 when the nerve agent was transferred from smaller tanks appears to have damaged plugs on each ton container, the Herald reported. The depot is using silicon around each plug to prevent leaking, and has placed absorbent “socks” around the containers in case any liquid does escape. Airtight tanks are being built at the Deseret Chemical Depot in Utah that will be able to hold the leaking containers, Holliday said. They are expected to arrive in Oregon late this month or in early April (Karen Hutchinson-Talaski, Hermiston Herald, March 22). Chemical weapons incineration at Umatilla is moving faster following safety errors last year that required retraining of all 700 workers at the disposal facility, the East Oregonian reported Monday (see GSN, Dec. 16, 2004). Workers are eliminating hundreds of M55 rockets each week. They were only disposing of 24 weekly last fall, the Oregonian reported. Roughly 8,000 rockets have been eliminated, 9 percent of the stockpile at Umatilla (Amy Jo Brown, East Oregonian, March 21).
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