Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility weekly project update week ending November 18, 2011.

Team Umatilla honors its currently serving vets

Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (UMCDF) Project General Manager Steve Warren presents a plaque to Matt Fetters in appreciation of his service to our country at a ceremony honoring Team Umatilla veterans Thursday, Nov. 10.

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Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility weekly project update for week ending November 4, 2011.

Closure activities in full swing at plant

A crane removes a section of the Brine Reduction Area (BRA) pollution abatement system (PAS) exhaust stack after it was cut with a torch by a sub-contractor.

The Container Handling Building (CHB) stands empty after more than seven years of storing Enhanced Onsite Containers (EONCs) with either test or real chemical agent munitions.

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UMCDF skyline changes as brine stack comes down

 The first obvious physical change to the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (UMCDF) since the completion of agent processing last week occurred this morning when the Brine Reduction Area (BRA) pollution abatement system (PAS) stack was removed.

“Today, the UMCDF plant skyline changed for the first time since construction was completed in 2001,” said Gary Anderson, UMCDF Site Project Manager. “Closure activities have now begun in earnest.”

Subcontractor Brandenburg Industrial made torch cuts on the 65-foot-high exhaust stack and then used a crane to lift the two sections to the ground. The entire BRA-PAS building is being removed as closure work at the plant gears up. The BRA-PAS demolition work is expected to be completed by next month.

About half of the plant structures will be demolished over the next two to three years to comply with the UMCDF’s Resource Conservation and Recovery Act permit from the state. All areas used to process chemical agent or the exhaust from the furnaces will be torn down.

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The Oregonian: Editorial, Burning up the last lethal gas

In just seven years, the U.S. Army and its contractors have burned through one of the nation's largest stockpiles of lethal wartime chemicals, stored in bunkers off Interstate 84 near Hermiston. It was at times a nail-biting exercise, as no one could really guarantee an explosion at the 31-square-mile site wouldn't kill or harm people in nearby Hermiston, Irrigon, Umatilla or Boardman. But it's done, the last one-ton canister of blister agent at the Umatilla Chemical Depot incinerated to nothing this week.

There are few causes for outright celebration in the world of toxic weapons destruction, but this is one. Since the international Chemical Weapons Conference pact of 1996 stipulated the United States eliminate its stores of nerve and mustard gas agents by 2012, regulators from towns, cities, counties, Oregon, the U.S. Army and the federal government struggled and even fought to ensure safety as a scary, little-known technology became the local industry.

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Additional Story

The East Oregonian: Umatilla workers can take great pride in a job safely done

The risk of leaks or explosions from other kinds of weapons that were stored at the site is now past.

Work can begin on converting the Umatilla Depot to other uses. We also must face the challenge of replacing the military and civilian jobs with an annual payroll in the millions.

It will take another three-plus years to take down the plant used to process the chemical, so the jobs will not go away all at once.

Other former military bases have found new lives that generated even more employment than their pasts. We can hope the same is true in our county when we look back a decade or so from now.

Meanwhile, we congratulate the depot workers for their truly great job in keeping us safe while they destroyed these chemical weapons. They took good care of their neighbors.

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Community support was vital for success of chemical disposal

We would like to thank everyone for their support to UMCDF. Great projects like this require solid leadership. We believe that UMCDF has enjoyed dedicated and professional leadership from elected officials and citizens of the community. To mark the end of operations, the Army will be hosting a ceremony March 15, 2012, at the Hermiston Convention Center. Please mark this date on your calendar; more information will follow.

The Army could not have asked for better community support throughout the years. You should take great pride in your role because the success of this program has been the result of each individual’s contribution.

By GARY M. ANDERSON and STEVE WARREN
Anderson is site project manager at the UMCDF and Warren is project general manager for URS Corp

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Sumary of closeout activity

The Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) has been a unique multi-jurisdictional partnership with a common goal: to prepare and enable communities to protect their residents in the unlikely event of a chemical emergency at one of the nation’s chemical stockpile sites The Umatilla Chemical Depot was one of eight Army installations where our nation’s stockpile of chemical munitions was located. The Depot began destroying its chemical munitions in 2004, and will complete its final campaign by the end of 2011.

The Umatilla area is safer today as a result of CSEPP’s public safety program. Dedicated personnel from many agencies made up the local CSEPP team. These include emergency management agencies in Washington and Oregon states; Umatilla, Morrow and Benton counties; the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); Department of the Army; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR); and the American Red Cross. CSEPP has provided emergency plans, procedures, and equipment to help prevent or minimize the damage caused by a chemical emergency or natural disaster. CSEPP has also provided public information to promote general emergency preparedness in the communities around the Umatilla Chemical Depot.

Thanks to CSEPP, we will leave our Communities Strengthened, Equipped, Protected and Prepared.

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