The Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (UMCDF) reached the “closure complete” milestone on Oct. 2, meaning all the physical work involved in closing the facility has been completed.
Another reduction in force (RIF) is planned Thursday, Oct. 9, in conjunction with that milestone.
The Thursday RIF includes 27 positions, although only 19 people will be leaving since several people scheduled for the RIF already moved on to other jobs. About 25 people will remain on the project after Thursday’s RIF, and most of those will leave in another RIF scheduled for Dec. 18. That will coincide with the “RCRA closure complete” milestone, which means all the requirements under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act have been met.
The handful of people remaining after the October and December RIFs will likely work out of URS offices in Richland, Wash., as they complete the paperwork to close out the contract. That milestone is expected to be reached early next year.
UMCDF has conducted several RIFs since the project completed chemical agent operations in October 2011, all coinciding with a significant closure milestone. When the project completed destruction of Oregon’s chemical weapons stockpile about 830 employees worked at UMCDF.
The demilitarization facility constructed and operated by URS destroyed 220,604 munitions and 3,720 tons of chemical agent, including GB and VX nerve agent and mustard blister agent. The munitions and agent had been stored at the Umatilla Chemical Depot since the 1960s.
More Stories from Northeast Oregon Now:
Hermiston Falls to Coeur d’Alene, 31-27
Hermiston, Stanfield Seek Combined Fire District
