Mercury-Laced Mustard Agent at Issue
(Washington, D.C) – On Friday, October 31, attorneys for the Government Accountability Project (GAP) filed a lawsuit on behalf of G.A.S.P., Oregon Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club and several local residents of Umatilla and Morrow Counties seeking to stop the current plan by state agencies to burn mustard agent stored in ton containers and contaminated with mercury and other hazardous wastes, which would release mercury and other toxins into the environment, at the Umatilla Chemical Depot (UCD).
Technically, the lawsuit seeks judicial review of recent decisions made by the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) and Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to move forward with their incineration plan for mercury-laced mustard agent and secondary wastes. The decision was made despite evidence included in a DEQ report earlier this year showing that the risk of cancer to humans posed by the incineration plan is significant and exceeds Oregon’s acceptable risk standards.
More than 60 percent of the chemical warfare agent stockpile at UCD is bulk-stored mustard agent. Several years ago it was announced that portions of the mustard agent ton containers were contaminated with dangerous quantities of mercury. If incinerated, the mercury would not be fully captured by the filter systems currently in place or planned for the Umatilla Chemical Demilitarization Facility (UMCDF). While other technologies exist for destroying the agent in a much safer manner (see below), the Oregon departments have pushed, at the Army’s request, the use of incineration.
GAP Senior Counsel Richard Condit, who has worked on issues concerning UMCDF for more than 10 years, explained: “Concerned groups and individuals who have been watch-dogging UMCDF have finally forced the EQC and DEQ to make clear how what methods they intend to approve to dispose of the mercury-contaminated mustard ton containers. Not surprisingly, the plan is not safe or protective of the environment; instead it totally caves in to the Army’s wish list.”
Hermiston resident Karyn Jones, member of the group G.A.S.P. who have been involved as watchdogs over UCD since the early 1990s, also expressed her disappointment at the actions of state officials: “The DEQ and EQC have totally rolled over for the Army and its contractors. The UMCDF project has seriously tarnished the reputation and independence of the DEQ and EQC. The agencies have not even required the Army to test the contents of the mustard ton containers, so they have no real facts to back up their assumptions about this part of the stockpile. I am simply disgusted!”
Case Background/Other Methods
GAP and the Petitioners named in the lawsuit have been involved with this legal battle for years. GAP filed a lawsuit on behalf of the same parties in Oregon against the EQC and DEQ last November, seeking a moratorium on burning secondary wastes and mustard agent at Umatilla, on the grounds that the agencies failed to follow Oregon law.
Oregon law is unique in demanding that the method of chemical agent disposal be the “best available technology” for doing so. Alternative technologies to incineration and secondary waste disposal that release significantly less contaminants have been developed for and will be used at the Army’s Blue Grass (Kentucky) and Pueblo (Colorado) facilities. In recent years, the Aberdeen Proving Ground facility in Maryland destroyed 1,800 tons of mustard agent by a chemical “neutralization” method, which greatly reduces the emission of hazardous chemicals into the environment.
The EQC finally made official its decision to continue with the incineration process on September 4th, despite evidence in a DEQ report showing elevated cancer risks to the Oregon population and severe risks to wildlife and the environment. For example, the hazard estimate for numerous wildlife, including Blue Heron, Mallard Duck, Raccoon, Owl, Spotted Sandpiper, Mourning Dove, and Western Meadowlark, exceed risk standards.