Oregon Public Broadcasting

Chemical mustard agent is once again being burned up at the Umatilla Chemical Depot near Hermiston, Oregon.

The facility had stopped work in late October because vats of mustard agent were boiling over. Now depot officials say they think they've fixed that issue. Anna King reports.

In the next couple of months, Oregon's Department of Environmental Quality will keep an eagle eye on the Umatilla Depot.

The agency wants to see if the depot can incinerate one-ton containers of dangerous mustard agent without having them boil over.

The concern was that unidentified chemicals could have been released. Now, the Army thinks it has it figured out.

It's reducing the amount of gunky-chemical known as the "heel" in the bottom of each container before putting it in the furnace.

Army contractor, Hal McCune says about 435 pounds seems to be the magic number that lowers the risk of boil overs.

Hal McCune: "We're pretty confident that by pumping out enough of the agent and water that we put in to get down to that 435 level we can avoid boil overs."

The depot incinerated its first massive container of mustard agent on Sunday.

The Army plans to ramp up to as many as eight containers a day after tests, public comment and approval from state regulators.

Online:

More information on the Umatilla Chemical Depot's Trial Burn Plan

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