Pacific Northwest health alerts

Pam (pamb@efn.org)
Sat, 31 May 1997 07:10:41 -0700


In two reports, on Northwest Cable News this morning, it was reported that
there have been two recent accidents in Oregon and Washington.

At the Umatilla Army Depot, just west of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
in north central Oregon, SARIN GAS leaked from a storage facility. No
other details were given in the report. Sarin gas, also known as GB-nerve
gas, is the same gas used in the attack several years ago in the Tokyo
subway.

In an accident at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, just east of the Yakima
Indian Reservation in south central Washington state, a chemical gas
leaked from a building several weeks ago. This building was used to
produce plutonium. Five workers at the nuclear reservation continue to
complain of health problems. Hanford officials claim there was no
radioactive material in the gas release but the workers are reporting
their health problems are similar to those of radiation exposure.

So far, a web search has produced no additional information.