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Umatilla Depot Briefly Stops Weapons Disposal
The Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Work stopped Monday night and was scheduled to resume yesterday, according to a press release from the Army Chemical Materials Agency. The suspension was spurred by three permit violation notices issued by the Oregon Environmental Quality Department. The violations occurred between July 2006 and February 2007 and posed no danger to the public, environment or workers, the release states. Washington Group International, the facility’s contract operator, self-reported 12 of the 15 violations and quickly addressed the violations, according to the Army. “This is about maintaining safety and environmental compliance,” said Doug Hamrick, Washington Group project general manager, in the release. “We stopped processing to be sure we fully understood DEQ’s concerns and are addressing those concerns” (U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency release, June 21). A Washington Group spokesman said the violations often involved elimination of secondary waste and the pace at which munitions and chemical agent were incinerated, the Associated Press reported. Lack of cutoff procedures can produce violations, he said. Prior to the beginning of weapons incineration, the Umatilla Chemical Depot held roughly 12 percent of the Disposal is now under way of 155 mm projectiles filled with the nerve agent sarin. The last 6,000 could be destroyed this summer, McCune said. That would be followed by a changeover period of several months to allow for destruction of other nerve agent weapons. Weapons filled with mustard blister agent would be eliminated afterward (Associated Press/kgw.com, June 21).
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