The Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit public-interest group, has sued on behalf of the Oregon Wildlife Federation, the Sierra Club and several residents of Umatilla and Morrow counties to block the planned burning of tons of mustard gas, a military blistering agent, stored at the Umatilla Chemical Depot near Hermiston, Ore.
The agent is the last of the chemical weapons at the depot planned for destruction. Earlier, supplies of Sarin and VX nerve agent were burned there. The agent has not been used in wartime for decades.
The lawsuit seeks judicial review of decisions by the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission and others to burn the mustard agent, which plaintiffs say were made despite evidence of a risk of cancer.
Calls to the chemical depot seeking comment were not immediately returned.