Oregon CW Depot Workers Detect Sarin Vapor

Workers at the U.S. Army’s Umatilla Chemical Depot in Oregon detected trace levels of sarin nerve agent vapor on Wednesday, the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency said (see GSN, May 16).

An operations monitoring team made the discovery inside a depot storage structure containing 155 mm projectiles. The structure’s “passive” filter system prevented the chemical agent vapor from escaping. As an additional measure, depot personnel installed a powered filter system.

Officials said the incident posed no threat to the public or environment (U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency release, July 5).

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