Umatilla Chemical Depot

Coordinates: 45°50′35″N 119°26′17″W / 45.84306, -119.43806

Additional recommended knowledge

Weighing the right way

What is the Correct Way to Check Repeatability in Balances?

How to quickly check pipettes?

The Umatilla Chemical Depot, (UCD) based in Umatilla, Oregon, is one of seven U.S. Army installations in the United States that currently store chemical weapons. The chemical weapons stored at the depot consist of various munitions and ton containers, containing sarin (GB) or VX nerve agent or mustard agent (HD) blister agent. The Army is working in partnership with Oregon state and local government agencies (such as Umatilla County, and City of Hermiston), as well as federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to safeguard the local community and protect the environment as they store and dispose of these chemical weapons.

The Umatilla Chemical Depot opened in 1941, to prepare for World War II. The depot's mission was to store and maintain a variety of military items, from blankets to ammunition. The depot took on its chemical weapons storage mission in 1962 and stored 12% of the nation's stockpile. From 1990 to 1994 the facility reorganized in preparation for eventual closure, shipping all conventional ammunition and supplies to other installations. Today, the chemical weapons are the only items still stored at the depot.

The Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility is designed for the sole purpose of destroying the chemical weapons stored at the Umatilla Chemical Depot. The facility was completed in 2001, and the Army began weapons disposal on September 8, 2004. As of September 26, 2007, 1014 tons of GB (sarin) stocks were incinerated, representing almost 27% of the base's stockpile.^[1] This was all of the GB agent stored at the depot, which had been contained in over 155,000 shells. The plant was preparing to begin VX destruction.

The facility uses high-temperature incineration technology to destroy weapons, a technology employed by the Army for more than a decade, disposing of more than a quarter of the nation's original chemical weapons.

The Oregon Citizens' Advisory Commission, whose members include area residents appointed by the Governor, is a focal point for public participation in the Army's weapons storage and disposal program in Umatilla.

The Umatilla Chemical Disposal Outreach Office in Hermiston, as well as the Umatilla Chemical Depot Public Affairs Office, are open to the public Monday through Friday to answer questions and provide program information.