Defense Environment Alert

an exclusive biweekly report on defense policies for cleanup, compliance and pollution prevention

Vol. 17, No. 9

April 28, 2009

NEW DISPOSAL METHOD MAY INFLUENCE OREGON CHEMICAL WEAPONS CASE

The Army's proposed use of a new technology for the disposal of some chemical weapons at stockpiles in Alabama and potentially Utah may boost the legal argument of environmentalists fighting to stop incineration of chemical agent at a similar facility in Oregon, according to an activist source. An Army spokesman admits there are parallels between the three sites, but warns against too hastily drawing conclusions about the Alabama and Utah sites, where emergency disposal of leaking weapons, rather than the regular stockpile, is at issue.

An attorney representing the G.A.S.P. activist coalition, which is campaigning to stop incineration at a stockpile site in Umatilla, OR, in favor of using an alternative destruction method, says that the Army's proposed use of controlled detonation at Anniston, AL, and Tooele, UT, strengthens the hand of GA.S.P. in its court battle with the Army. The group is challenging a Sept. 4 decision by Oregon regulators that incineration represents the "best available technology" (BAT) for chemical weapons disposal, and filed suit in the Oregon Circuit Court Oct. 31 to try to overturn the determination. Use of BAT is a requirement under state law.

Controlled detonation involves the explosive destruction of chemical weapons and related materials, such as metal casings, in a blast-proof room. The process produces very little residue, unlike incineration, which generates an exhaust stream that could contain contaminants. At all three sites, the weapons and chemical agent set for destruction involve mustard agent, and present a risk that mercury could be released if the weapons are burned. At Umatilla, the Army has proposed sulfur-impregnated carbon filters to trap any fugitive mercury, but activists are unconvinced that the filters will work.

G.A.S.P. and co-plaintiff the Sierra Club claim that the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and its supervisory body, the Environmental Quality Commission (EQC), both failed in their duty to ensure that BAT was employed at Umatilla to ensure the safe destruction of mustard agent held in one-ton containers on the site. Army studies have confirmed the presence of high levels of mercury in ton containers at Umatilla and Tooele; at Anniston, the mustard agent to be destroyed with controlled detonation is contained in munitions, and also contains problematic levels of mercury, Army documents show.

A statement by the Washington, DC-based Government Accountability Project, legal counsel to GA.S.P., says "It is difficult to imagine how the DEQ and EQC could have thoughtfully compared controlled detonation with incineration," and that "it should be of keen interest to Oregon officials that these other plants, each of which has the legal right to simply burn the munitions, are choosing to explore other options."

The attorney for G.A.S.P says that the publication by the Army contractor at Anniston of its intention "to award a Firm Fixed Price Subcontract for Explosive Destruction Technology.. . for the Destruction of Chemical Munitions" may help to sway the Oregon circuit court in favor of the activists' case. The attorney adds that "everything that I have read seems to indicate that there are not a lot of downsides to this technology," but cautions that it would have to be thoroughly evaluated before being used at Umatilla. Relevant documents are available on InsideEPA.com. See page 2 for details.

The attorney further says that the activists are confident that a similar proposal will be issued at Tooele, UT, to dispose of problem munitions there.

G.A.S.P. and its allies have previously pushed for water-based neutralization of the Umatilla chemical agent, a method to be employed at two chemical weapons stockpiles in Pueblo, CO, and Blue Grass, KY, where destruction will be handled under separate management by DOD's Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (ACWA) program.

The Army, spokesman says that Tooele is indeed looking to use the explosive technology, saying "Tooele knows it has similar issues but is further back in the permitting process." However, there is "little chance" that the Umatilla site will employ controlled detonation to dispose of its agent, which is stored exclusively in ton containers, not leaking munitions. "This technology is aimed at explosively-configured items like projectiles and mortars," the source says, adding "I don't see a correlation between these proposals and the Umatilla litigants."

The source adds that similar problems with leaking or defective chemical mustard munitions will probably surface at Pueblo and Blue Grass, which will be the last sites to dispose of their weapons.