Neutralization draws skepticism

Hermiston Herald
April 2, 2002
By Frank Lockwood (F. Ellsworth Lockwood)
Staff writer

HERMISTON - The Army can speed up the destruction of chemical agent and perhaps save money by using neutralization on the mustard agent at the Umatilla Chemical Depot, an assistant secretary of the Army says. However, he said, "If the community doesn't want to do it, that's fine."

Mario Fiori, assistant secretary of the Army for Installations and Environment, spoke at the PMCD Outreach Office last Tuesday about accelerating chemical weapons destruction. "I'd like decrease the time that it would take to get rid of (the nerve agent) by about four to five years," he said.

To speed incineration, the Army could go to three shifts, and employ "reconfiguration," and change procedures at the incinerator in order to process weapons faster.

"I find this a little confusing," said Morrow County Judge Terry Tallman, "when we have been told that incineration is state of the art and the best way to take care of this."

"I'm a believer in incineration," Fiori responded. "Neutralization is fairly straight forward."

Hermiston community leaders, encouraged by the Army, have repeatedly spoken for incineration but against neutralization for this site. Fiori anticipated reluctance to accept the changes. "I have read ... 'We are on this path, let's stay on it, don't deviate.' Well, we can do that if that's really what the community wants. It won't get rid of that (agent) five years earlier though."

Umatilla County Commissioner Dennis Doherty questioned the turn around. "Speedy neutralization wasn't recommended six years ago, particularly by the Army," Doherty said, and "What has changed that makes it of interest now?"

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks added motivation for speeding weapons destruction, Fiori said, but, otherwise, "Nothing has changed. I am just interested in speeding up the process." On the other hand, the Army could save several years by modifying incineration procedures, employing alternate technologies, including neutralization of mustard, and by addressing unspecified "regulation issues."

Incineration opponents have been alert for any indication Fiori would seek a "Consent Decree," which amounts to a waiver of past permit decisions. DEQ's Wayne Thomas said Friday that the state is not considering a Consent Decree.

And neutralization would not delay or slow incineration, Fiori said. "I want to accelerate the throughput of that very safe incinerator. I want to make sure that we are operating the most efficiently that's possible. I want to investigate all presumptions in the way we work. I challenge the contractor to come up with a whole bunch of ways to accelerate, if he could, and I think it could easily save five years." Fiori said.

Neutralization is touted as a safer, faster way to destroy 2,635 tons of mustard stored in Umatilla, which makes up about 64 percent of all the chemical agent stockpile at the depot.

Comfortable With Incineration
"It has taken 11 or 12 years to get our people who are here somewhat comfortable with the incineration process," said Umatilla Mayor George Hash. "Now you want us to tell them differently." 


Hash and others questioned adding alternative technologies to the budget when cash is short for present safety programs. "Present radio system can't keep contact with uptown and downtown Umatilla," Hash said. "If we throw in anything new that (citizens) even perceive as delaying the startup, we are going to have some unhappy people here," Hash said. "Don't do anything that's going to delay the startup of this incineration process."


Fiori, however, said his goal was to speed up incineration, not to slow it down.

Impacts Questioned
Morrow County Judge Terry Tallman suggested that running two plants at once would aggravate a boom-bust cost to his community. He inquired as to whether adding another facility - and the impacts on the communities it would bring - would make federal impact aid any more likely.

"That's a valid issue, but I don't think you will get impact aid," Fiori said.

Tallman had concerns about the environmental impact, and about waste management. "The depot is in a critical groundwater area," he said, "and what we have been told about this technology is that it demands tremendous amounts of water. One of the things we do not want to see is people's private wells and the city's' wells be impacted because of this greater demand for water."


A release from Chemical Weapons Working group, however, challenged that notion, saying that neutralization might use less water than incineration.


Tallman asked about the disposal of contaminated water which would be generated by neutralization. "We don't have the facilities in Oregon to handle it - the infrastructure," he said.

"The waste that comes from neutralization is fairly benign," Fiori noted. "You will drown in it before you are poisoned by it." But Tallman responded that he was concerned about the "sheer volume," not the toxicity of the neutralization waste.

Other Interests
Increasing incinerator operations to three shifts, seven days per week, would increase the need for on-duty CSEPP personnel, but money is not budgeted for that, county commissioners said. Army spokesmen replied that they needed round-the-clock response capabilities anyway, and that moving munitions would only occur during daylight hours, under specific weather conditions.

Morrow County Commissioner John Wenholz suggested that funding for safety should be tied to any changes that would impact emergency preparedness. "You say ... for the safety of the United States it is important that we move this program ahead," Wenholz said. "I am saying, that for the safety of the citizens that live in this area, we need whatever funding it takes to provide for their safety."

"If you need more resources, I can't imagine not doing it," Fiori told those present.

Goals the Same
Citizens Advisory Commission Chairman Bob Flournoy voiced a recurring theme when he said, "If we do bring in new technology, we are not going to (want to) slow anything down. Because that's what everyone's interested in. Getting rid of this stuff."

"Yes sir," Fiori said. "We certainly agree with the goals that you just said. And (incineration and neutralization) would be simultaneous operations, if it ever happens. I am not slowing down incineration."

Frank Lockwood may be reached at 567-6457 or by e-mail at
flockwood@hermistonherald.com.


http://www.cwwg.org/hh04.02.02.html

Panel doesn't want incineration held up

Hermiston Herald

06/19/01

By Frank (F. Ellsworth) Lockwood
Staff writer

HERMISTON -- The Governor's Executive Review panel Tuesday discussed redefining or eliminating tough "showstopper" standards, rather than risking the delay of incineration of chemical weapons at Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility.

Showstoppers are issues that the ERP says absolutely must be resolved before incineration can begin. Most showstoppers have been resolved, but two remain: monitoring, and tactical radio communications.

The Governor's Executive Review Panel met at the National Guard Armory where they reviewed the "Second Interim Report on the Status of Protection for Communities Surrounding the Umatilla Chemical Depot (UMCD)." In a May 8 CSEPP exercise designed to evaluate emergency preparedness, the surrounding communities had passed seven performance measures but failed another eight. Five of the failures were due to the lack of monitoring equipment. The measures failed by default. Others were caused by "minor" issues, panel members said.

The two "key components" of having an adequate emergency program were showstoppers and performance measures. Now some panel members are questioning both of those. Performance measures were a tough, "all or nothing" evaluation. If one evaluator raised an issue at one location, the measure was assessed as failing at the entire exercise.

An "all or nothing, pass/fail scheme" might be inappropriate to use for deciding what is an "adequate program," the panel concluded. "Showstoppers" were questioned as well. According to earlier ERP agreements, emergency preparedness showstoppers, if not resolved, would hold up incineration of chemical weapons.

Umatilla County Commissioner Dennis Doherty suggested a more flexible standard at Tuesday's meeting, but not all agreed. Doherty is the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Governing Board's president.

Panel History
The Hazardous Waste Storage and Treatment Permit for the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility states that the governor of Oregon must decide that an adequate emergency response program is in place before incineration of chemical weapons can begin.

Gov. John Kitzhaber appointed the 20 representatives to the Executive Review Panel in May 2000 to advise him when an adequate emergency preparedness program is in place and fully operational at UMCD. The panel reported in December that progress was being made.

To track emergency preparedness progress, the panel created a "Master List of Deficiencies." They also rated some elements of readiness as "critical." However, items can be on the critical list without becoming showstoppers. Incineration might go ahead even with unresolved items on the critical list. Not so with showstoppers. The panel had agreed that showstoppers, were essential elements and, if not resolved, would nix a good report.

Most showstoppers have been resolved, but the two remaining unresolved showstoppers were: 1) a tactical radio systems and 2) chemical agent monitoring. Radio tactical communications is in early stages of negotiation for contracting. And monitoring is not in place. Although some equipment purchases have been approved, the agent monitoring concept and equipment have yet to be put in place. Because it provides early warning of agent, monitoring is considered a necessary component of decontamination, evacuation assistance, and reentry into restricted areas.

The review panel goal was to be able to tell the governor in November that emergency preparedness is adequate, but members now worry the showstopper standards will upset their timetable.

Showstoppers Disputed
As the emergency preparedness target date draws nearer, the panel is asking, "Who came up with that list of showstoppers in the first place?" They discussed whether a showstopper really must stop the show, with Doherty suggesting they forget about using the word or the concept of "showstoppers," altogether.

Doherty argued instead for a continuum of desirable readiness indicators, which would allow them to make a positive report to the governor, even if not all showstoppers are resolved. Others questioned whether they could redefine the term, showstopper.

But Wanda Munn, from the state of Washington, said the term "showstoppers" means just that. You stop everything if those issues are not resolved. If items are not really showstoppers, they should be removed from the showstopper list, she said.

DEQ's Wayne Thomas suggested taking a vote on whether or not to have showstoppers, but Armand Minthorn, representing the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, cautioned against that. The panel decided to continue the discussion at the Aug. 23 meeting.

Target Date Doubted
Panel member Robert Flournoy said the panel would not be able to make a positive recommendation in November, based on the standards the panel had developed. A volley of exchanges over the issue took place between Flournoy and the moderator Wayne Thomas of the DEQ.

Thomas: Is there a possibility that we can be ready in November?
Flournoy: No. There are certain elements that are not going to be ready.
Thomas: Do we know that right now?
Flournoy: Do we know what?
Thomas: Do we know that we are not going to be ready in November.
Flournoy: From everything that I have been told absolutely we will not be ready.
Thomas: Is there a possibility that we could be ready in November?
Flournoy: Not when you take into consideration all of the elements ... (unintelligible) there are certain elements, no, we will not be ready. And I
think the governor should know. The community should have to know.
Thomas then told Flournoy, "We are facing it optimistically."
"I will be optimistic then," Flournoy said.

Munn, looking at a calendar, expressed doubts similar to Flournoy's. "I am a little concerned," she noted, about the "enormous achievements" that needed to be accomplished in order to give the governor a positive report in November.

Doherty compared the desired new tactical radio system to a new Cadillac. If the old system works, he said, it can serve for a while if necessary, rather than hold up incineration, just as the old Chevrolet gets one to and from work while waiting for the Cadillac to be delivered.

A recent $500,000 upgrade was done on the existing communications system, and Doherty says that system is adequate until a better one, using a 450 megahertz design, can be put in place. Doherty says CSEPP has its list of priorities on which they are working, so does the Army. When the Army is ready to burn, he says, he hopes the Executive Review Panel will agree that preparation is adequate. The real danger is from continued storage, not from incineration, Doherty said.

Hospital gets help recycling fluorescent lights

By Frank (F. Ellsworth) Lockwood

Published in The Hermiston Herald, January 23, 2003

Hermiston--  A special grant is now aimed at easing the pain of recycling- for hospitals.  The grant will help Good Shepherd Medical Center deal with used Fluorescent light tubes, which contain mercury.

In the past two years, while treating over 100,000 annual aches, pains, and health concerns, Good Shepherd reportedly handled about 14 tons of paper- enough to cause a real headache for any business other than a stouthearted recycler.

But paper is just one waste stream for Good Shepherd Health Care system, Plastic is another.  And the hospital and other aware businesses realize that burned- out- fluorescent light tubes can prepare a risk to the environment.  Gone are the days when the tubes could be just dumped into the landfill, now businesses are supposed to dispose of them properly.

“If it comes in the front door, it’s got to go out the back door sooner or later,” the hospital’s Environmental Services Manager, Ken Gummer said.  He was speaking of the tons of supplies, food, wrappers and other items that must be disposed of each year. Gummer’s job is to see that the waste is handled in a way that protects the environment and the public.

Inoperable fluorescent tubes can create a hazard because they still contain toxic metals, including cadmium and mercury.  Gummer said, Mercury is considered a serious health hazard and according to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), health care facilities are the fourth – largest source of mercury in the environment.  Mercury, which is highly toxic to the human central nervous system, kidneys and liver, is commonly used in blood pressure monitoring devices, thermometers, batteries and fluorescent light bulbs.

Good Shepherd will receive a share of a grant that helps health providers to recycle mercury-containing fluorescent lamps.  Grant recipients contribute matching money, staff time or services.  The City of Milwaukie, working in partnership with the Portland-based Oregon Center for Environmental Health, was awarded $20,238 to help the Center develop fluorescent lamp recycling program at Legacy Health System in Portland, Asante Health System in Medford, and Good Shepherd Health System In Hermiston.

Gummer said he had not yet been told the amount that Good Shepherd would receive, but the money will help pay transportation costs to ship used fluorescent bulbs to a proper disposal sight.  According to a DEQ press release, The grant is an incentive for hospitals to participate in a statewide recycling program.  At least 50,000 mercury-containing fluorescent lamps will be diverted from the solid waste stream from 10 to 15 hospitals in the first year, with additional hospitals taking part in the future.  The Oregon Center for Environmental Health-part of the Oregon health Care Without Harm campaign- will monitor recycling efforts at each participating hospital, will train staff and will help set up the program.

Good Shepherd has already been training for better waste management, and has hosted one of three seminars on Health Care Without Harm.  The seminars teach health care representatives how to keep material out of the waste stream, through recycling, and how to reduce toxins to the environment.  Invitations were sent out to hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care institutions.  “We re trying to promote recycling in rural Oregon,” Gummer said.

More information is available on the internet at www.noharm.org, he said, “ Oregon was the first state to ban fever thermometers last year, in early 2002, because of mercury, Gummer said.

Various hospital waste streams are kept separate from each other and, if hazardous, treated accordingly.  For example, biohazards are handled, by contract, through a company and are not part the universal waste stream.  Waste silver, present in film, is extracted by a contractor.  The hospital is looking for a sponsor for a plastics recycling program. And the hospital will dispose of diabetics needles if they bring them in a proper container as described by the law, Gummer said. As to paper waste, the hospital uses Columbia Industries, a not- for-profit company that hires physically and mentally challenged people to recycle paper. “We make a lot of paper,” Gummer said.

Fluorescent tubes, though small in terms of the tons of them used by the hospital, are a potentially harmful waste stream because of the mercury they contain.  Laws that were changed a long time ago are now being enforced, but that is good.  Gummer said, “We don’t want to put nasty things down the drain, or to contaminate the atmosphere.”  Recycling also reduce the landfill bill, he said.  GSH Public Relations Director, Tricia Fenley commented, “Good Shepherd is excited to participate in the trend towards recycling.”        

2002: Army, review of risk assessments

Hermiston Herald
Sept. 24, 2002
Review of risk assessments may be ready in December
By Frank Lockwood
Staff writer
HERMISTON - A review of the Army's new UMCDF Quantitative Risk Assessment is nearly completed: Panel members say they do not know if the Army will apply all of their recommendations.

The Army's new QRA, which is said to include more details on processing risks than former versions of the QRA, was in process for several years before it was submitted to the panel. The panel has held 12 meetings and 17 teleconferences since October 1999, and their report includes "in-depth review and comments" on the QRA methodology described in preliminary draft QRAs for UMCDF (Umatilla, July 2001) and ANCDF (Anniston, Ala., October 2000).

Speaking to the Citizens Advisory Commission on Thursday, concerning the new report, were Katheryn Higley, an associate professor at Oregon State University, and Shib Seth, a senior technical advisor with the Department of Engergy. Five other members of the panel, not present Thursday, included experts in probablistic risk assessment, process design, mathematical modeling, safety analysis and other fields related to risk assessment. The review was done in connection with Mitretek Systems, a not-for-profit organization that works "exclusively in the public interest."

As part of the study, the panel looked at review analyses performed by the contractor Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). The panel made recommendations concerning QRA methodology, QRA maintenance and update, reduction of risks indentified by the QRA, and use of the QRA in risk management.
When questioned, panel representatives could not tell a local DEQ official what will happen if the Army disagrees with their recommendations. DEQ Administrator Wayne Thomas asked whether the Army was to be required to follow the recommendations, and what would be the process if the Army should happen to disagree with some of those recommendations. Seth and Higley acknowledged those were important questions but said they did not yet know the answers.

The UMCDF QRA is scheduled for completion in December 2002, but panel members and Army sources have said that the new QRA is expected to be a "living document' subject to change as changes are made to the design or operation of the plant.

Following the 911 terrorist attack, so-called "external events," including terrorist acts, have been given new attention.

(1998) Depot brings dramatic changes to town

Depot brings dramatic changes to town By Frank Lockwood, page 6, Vision 2000, The Hermiston Herald, Tuesday, December 1, 1998


In just one year, from 1940 to 1941, Hermiston changed from a desert village of about 800 people into a boom town with 7,000 workers hammering, shoveling and pouring concrete to build the world's largest munitions depot in record time. The Umatilla Ordnance Depot has since been renamed several times and is now the Umatilla Chemical Depot.

The influx of construction workers overwhelmed local businesses and government. At times the local taverns had to shut down when they ran completely out of beer; it was strictly first come, first served.

Notes in Army archives described the town:

"Men who came and got work (had) $100 a week to spend. Their attempts to spend it made this peaceful village overnight into an overgrown carnival working a 24-hour shift. Hastily-erected lunch rooms and hot dog stands, soft drink and beer establishments, a movie, grocery stores, shoeshine stands, and meat markets played to long waiting lines.

"Living spaces became a luxury. Householders rented spare rooms, then rented front lawns and vacant lots for trailer space. The army erected barracks for 1,700 men at the depot but married men and their families still swarmed in. One farmer threw away his plow and turned his 160 acres into sought-after trailer space.
"With families still living in tents or under any shelter available, the state and federal governments stepped in. They provided migratory worker and trailer camps and augmented school facilities – just about the time the end of the job was sighted."

Thus, in 1940, life picked up in Hermiston. On Nov.14, 1940, after Washington D.C. announced Captain Robert C. Williams had been ordered to Hermiston, the Herald reported:

"What is to follow is known only in Washington, D.C.... Many rumors have floated about the streets of Hermiston... but the Herald will not seek to publish any of them."

By Dec.19, 1940, the government announced a huge contract to build the largest munitions depot in the world, right here in Hermiston, for a cost of $9,000,000. To put that in perspective, "Regular Size" cornflakes cost only five cents at the time. A new Sealy mattress sold for $29.50. Patent leather shoes were $2.25 a pair. You could buy a new John Deere tractor, mower, and back-rake for $730.

So $9 million was a lot of money those days. Some estimates were the cost would rise to $12 million. Then to $15 million. A 1990 Army document put the total construction cost at $35 million.
For the wages, the crews worked their tails off, setting world records for that type of work. On Sept.24, 1941, they poured 24 concrete igloos in 24 hours, using 9,000 yards of concrete.

To do this job, workers flocked to Hermiston, overwhelming the merchants and outstripping the area's ability to provide basic services and housing.

In Sept.1941, "Portland Oregon Journal" featured Hermiston as the "hot spot" of the Northwest. Newspapers welcomed workers and hailed their record-setting volumes of concrete poured during igloo construction.
"Workers from all sectors of the country came to drill the depot's deep wells, build its magazines, warehouses and shops, and carry out its 241-mile network of road and railroad tracks," an Army document says.
But by Nov.27, 1941, workers were leaving the town in droves as construction tapered off abruptly.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Japan attacked the Pearl Harbor, crippling the United States Navy Seventh Fleet and drawing the country in to the war. By December the Hermiston had posted guards at the city reservoir as part of the Civilian Defense Program and the depot went into service storing and shipping conventional weapons for use in World War II. According to Army documents, workers went on "round-the-clock -shifts to ship, receive, store and care for the items needed for war."

Because of the draft, whereby able-bodied men were called into military service, workers were scarce. Those who remained worked long, arduous hours. Women were plunged into the work force in unprecedented numbers. They drove heavy-duty trucks, handled ammunition, and built crates alongside men.


The Tragedy Igloos were designed so that, in the event of an explosion, the blast would go up, rather than out, to minimize the destruction. On March 21, 1944, bombs being stored in an ammunition storage igloo exploded, killing six civilian workers.

News reports said the blast was felt as far away as Lewiston, Idaho, and that the concussion traveled in waves, so that windows in a limited area were broken, but then the damage might "skip" several miles, to repeat itself. In some cases doors were blown off the hinges, and in others the casing went too. Seismographs in Spokane reported a "very slight" earth disturbance at the time of the explosion. However, the Army design proved effective in that the blast went upward as intended, and the sandy soil reportedly killed concussion to nearby bunkers. The Bunker housed 2,000 pound, "blockbuster" bombs used in aerial bombing, but contained "only a partial capacity of bombs."

No explanation was given of what actually caused the explosion, although some workers of the time speculated a bomb might have been defective, or may have been dropped "just right." News reports commended civilian workers for being "good soldiers" and for returning to work following the explosion.

Nevertheless, by May, the depot was running advertisements saying, "Help win the war!" Labor was on the decrease, the ad said, and the depot wanted people to sign up for a six-hour shift from 6 p.m. to 12 midnight. "This appeal is made to all able-bodied men in Hermiston," the ad said. The pay incentive was 81 cents per hour.

During the summer of 1945, huge stock of munitions were returned from overseas, and a "sizable amount" was routed to Hermiston for renovation, maintenance, and storage. Unserviceable ammunition was demilitarized and salvage was made of reusable components.

The Army built several new ammunition renovation shops and modified others, but the work "was a monumental task that took years to complete, Army documents say.

Thank you to Center for Columbia River History for preserving this on their web site: http://www.ccrh.org/
It was not until the 1960s that the depot would begin its role in storing toxic chemical munitions.