Umatilla Chemical Depot Can Burn Secondary Waste Again

By Andrew Theen
Portland, OR June 19, 2008 3:58 p.m.

The Umatilla Chemical Depot can resume burning secondary waste after a decision today from a citizen committee.

The Oregon Environmental Quality Commission decided that the depot can again burn hazard suits, rags, and other things that have touched the chemical weapons being destroyed there.

The Army facility voluntarily stopped burning that waste earlier this year after a court challenge. The depot continued to destroy VX nerve gas and other stockpiled chemical weapons.

Bruce Henrickson is the public affairs officer for the Umatilla Depot. He says after exploring other methods of destroying the materials, depot managers decided that incineration was the best way.

Bruce Henrickson: "We firmly believe that it is not harmful to the public or the environment. And the Army takes a back-seat to no one on environmental protection. We have staff of environmentalists, we track our stack emissions at all times. The plant operates 24 hours a day."

Henrickson says the emissions from the plant are primarily water vapors and nitrogen with what he called "trace amounts of chemicals."

Opponents of incineration have long argued that there are safer ways to dispose of the weapons and secondary waste.