[CPEO-MEF] CLOSURE, CHEMWEAPONS: Lawmakers protest [Umatilla, OR] Depot plan

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Lawmakers protest Depot plan

By Luke Hegdal
Hermiston Herald (OR)
June 25, 2011

Oregon lawmakers fought back against a Department of Defense ruling  
that could nullify 20 years and $1 million worth of planning for  
closure of the Umatilla Chemical Depot under Base Closure and  
Realignment Commission legislation.

Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, along with Congressman  
Greg Walden, sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates,  
Thursday, that outlines their opposition to the decision.

"Unfortunately, we recently discovered that the Office of General  
Counsel has decided that because the destruction of the chemical  
weapons at UMCD won't be complete by September 15, the facility will  
be closed and disposed outside of BRAC," the lawmakers wrote. "As you  
know, Congress created BRAC as a way to consolidate and realign  
military facilities - saving taxpayer dollars. To try to use the BRAC  
statute to keep UMCD in federal hands and waste more than $1 million  
is shameful."

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.hermistonherald.com/news/lawmakers-protest-depot-plan/ 
article_92fd290e-9f2a-11e0-bbac-001cc4c002e0.html

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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