Critics seek alliance to stop munitions burning

Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2000 | 9:42 a.m.

"The mode of open burning and open detonation of munitions is archaic," said Grace Potorti, director of the Reno-based Rural Alliance for Military Accountability, a watchdog group.

"Putting bombs into a pit and lighting them on fire and saying the substances in the explosives just disappear is nonsense," she said. "They are spreading carcinogens into the air and that must end."

Critics charge that the explosives burned or detonated for 30 years at the depot in Herlog, Calif., near the Nevada-California line, contain heavy metals and dioxin and may pose a health risk for down-wind residents in eastern Lassen County, California and northern Nevada.

The Army denies any toxins are contained in the smoke and says the burning poses no health risks.

The depot now is under an Environmental Impact Report review from California environmental agencies for a 10-year extension of its permit to burn or detonate excess military explosives.

Critics want California to require a more in-depth environmental impact report.

Last year, about 12,000 tons of obsolete munitions were burned or detonated at Herlong, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported on Tuesday.

In 1993, the Nevada Division of Environmental Quality opposed all open burning at Herlong but had no authority to stop it. Last week, Nevada DEQ officials sent a letter to California environmental investigators asking they require Herlong to use recycling and dismantling as an alternative to burning whenever possible.

Larry Rogers, Sierra Army Depot spokesman, has said previously that the depot follows California environmental rules and that tests done at the site of the explosions show employees on the ground are in no danger, according to the newspaper.

"Right there, at ground zero, nothing exceeds any safe human exposure," Rogers said. "The state says it's safe at ground level. I can't imagine it gets more dangerous further away from the explosion."

The depot destroys everything from bullets to artillery shells to bombs. The disposals take place once a day, Monday through Thursday, during a burning season that runs from March to Nov. 1.