A environmental group says it has filed suit to stop an Oregon state plan to incinerate a cache of World War II-era mustard gas agents.
Attorneys for the Government Accountability Project filed suit in Portland, Ore., Monday to try to counter a decision by the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission and Department of Environmental Quality to burn the chemicals stored at the Umatilla Chemical Depot, the Tri-City Herald (Kennewick, Wash.) reported.
The group said it’s worried some of the mustard agent is contaminated with mercury and other hazardous wastes, and contends the mercury would not be fully captured by the Umatilla facility’s filter systems, the newspaper said.
State officials have approved going ahead with the incineration using enhanced carbon filters. Following earlier moves to destroy the nerve agents stored there, only the HD mustard blister agent — which is stored in one-ton containers — will remain at the Umatilla depot, one of seven chemical weapons storage sites in the United States.