|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
U.S. Army Says Chemical Weapon Destruction in Oregon Could Begin by July
The U.S. Army plans to begin destruction of 3,700 tons of sarin-filled rockets stored at the Umatilla Chemical Depot in Oregon by mid-July, the Portland Oregonian reported (see GSN, May 11). Workers are scheduled to finish testing the incinerator’s systems and addressing environmental concerns in the next month or so. Oregon Department of Environmental Quality officials could then advise members of the Environmental Quality Commission to allow incineration to start at the commission’s July 16 meeting. “We could start up immediately after that,” if the commission approves, Army spokeswoman Mary Binder said. However, Dennis Murphey, the DEQ administrator overseeing the incineration project, warned that “there’s an awful lot of work that has to be done by the Army and by the contractor,” Washington Demilitarization Co., to meet Oregon environmental requirements. “I don’t think it’s wise at all to start” in July, said Karyn Jones, a member of the Hermiston activist group Gasp, which has sued to stop the incineration plan. “They still have so many things to take care of,” she added. Gasp wants the state to require the Army to change its destruction method from incineration to another technology such as chemical treatments. “Depending on what [the judge] rules, they may be forced to switch technologies,” Jones said (Andy Dworkin, The Oregonian, May 19).
| ||||||||||
Back to top
