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Oregon Stops Umatilla CW Destruction After Fire
Oregon’s Environmental Quality Department halted chemical weapons destruction at the U.S. Army’s Umatilla Chemical Depot yesterday following the third fire at the facility since early April, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, April 26). “It certainly appears as if we’re seeing a pattern,” department spokesman Dennis Murphey said. He would not say when destruction would resume. The causes of the first two fires remain unknown. Murphey said the fire, which lasted only a few seconds, occurred during destruction of a rocket containing the nerve agent sarin (Associated Press, May 18). Rocket processing was stopped for more than a week after each of the first two fires, but officials expect this delay to be longer, the Portland Oregonian reported. Army spokeswoman Mary Binder said a through investigation into the latest fire is planned. “At this point, we haven’t ruled out anything,” Binder said. “But from what we’ve seen … the people, procedures and design worked as planned” (Andy Dworkin, Oregonian, May 19). Meanwhile, Senator Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) expressed concerns that a minor fire last week at Pine Bluff Chemical Agent Disposal was not reported quickly enough to the public, according to the Associated Press. “I was a little surprised I didn’t know earlier,” Pryor said. “I’m going to check into what exactly the rationale was there. But generally, I think they owe it to the community to tell the public when things like this happen.” Col. Tom Woloszyn, an Army spokesman, said the cause of the fire is being investigated. “This was not an emergency, so the public was not notified, but I think we need to re-evaluate that,” Woloszyn said (David Hammer, Associated Press, May 19).
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