Kitzhaber skeptical on plan to destroy nerve gas

Kitzhaber skeptical on plan to destroy nerve gas

Thursday, April 4, 2002

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HERMISTON, Ore. -- A tour of the Army's Umatilla Chemical Depot apparently failed to convince Gov. John Kitzhaber that dissolving mustard gas in warm water is a safe method of disposal for the deadly agent.

After a brief tour, Kitzhaber told community leaders in Hermiston that he was not comfortable with the Army's recently unveiled plans to use water neutralization on 2,440 tons of mustard gas stored in bunkers in Umatilla.

Kitzhaber said he'd been assured the Army would not use "whatever higher authority they have to run over us," and that he was not inclined to "change horses" now.

The Army had previously intended to incinerate the mustard gas along with more deadly VX gas and other nerve agents. The Army still plans to burn other chemicals besides mustard gas at the depot.

The mustard agent is part of the 3,717 tons of chemical agents scheduled to be destroyed starting in February 2003. Under an international treaty, the work must be done by 2008.

Mario Fiori, the assistant secretary of the Army in charge of the nation's storage and destruction of chemical agents, met with Kitzhaber last week to discuss water neutralization.

Meanwhile, Kitzhaber said he will continue pressing the Department of Defense for impact aid for Umatilla and Morrow counties.

The Department of Defense has turned away repeated requests from the counties for the aid, upsetting residents who point out that Alabama's governor was able to secure $40.5 million in impact aid for that state's Calhoun County. Chemical agent burns are to begin in Anniston, Ala., later this year.

Kitzhaber said he didn't want to draw any comparisons between Alabama or Oregon "for a variety of reasons."

But he said, "I'm unwilling to blackmail" the Army to secure such funds.

Alabama's governor sued the Army after the Federal Emergency Management Agency refused to hand over money to buy gas masks for citizens living near the Anniston depot.

Emergency officials recently agreed to release $7 million to buy gas masks for Alabama citizens. And the governor recently dropped an injunction he'd filed against the Army to halt agent burns.

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