Sarin Leak Found at Umatilla

Trace amounts of sarin nerve agent leaked recently in a U.S. munitions storage building at the Umatilla Chemical Depot in Oregon, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb 26).

Workers discovered the gas yesterday while checking on a storage “igloo” that holds some weapons that have leaked in the past, said depot spokesman Jim Hackett. 

None of the lethal vapors escaped the igloo or posed a danger to the public, he added.

The leak was the first detected since November, Hackett said, adding that fewer incidents have occurred since the site finished incinerating sarin-filled M55 rockets, the most leak-prone munitions (see GSN, Jan. 4).

The site is now burning sarin-filled 155 mm artillery shells (see GSN, Jan. 26), some of the 100,000 weapons that remain to be destroyed at the depot as part of U.S. efforts to comply with the international Chemical Weapons Convention, AP reported (Associated Press/KPTV.com, March 27).

Back to top
About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines © Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.