UPDATE: Alarm on Sarin Nerve Gas Leak Shows Evidence of Machine/Computer Malfunction

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UPDATE gleaned from KOIN TV Channel 6, Portland evening news broadcast. You may be able to find related stories on their website: www.channel6000.com. For now, their latest report stated:

The December 30, 1999 (Thursday) alarm of a sarin nerve gas leak at the Umatilla Storage Depot shows evidence that it was not caused (solely?0 by operator error, as much as by systems failure or computer malfucntion. While the explanation of operator error has not been ruled out by the journalists at KOIN (who actually seem to be newshounding this story) a number of details uncovered and reported tonight seem to rule this out. Principally, the reporter noted these 4 things:

1) the coincidence of the alarm with the Y2K rollover time-frame;

2) the alarm itself was discombobulated: the alarm consists of a siren and broadcast warnings by loudspeaker to citizens of nearby towns. The alarm went off, but broadcast two seperaate messages: in Spanish, it announced a nerve gas leak and instructed all citizens to desert the streets and go indoors and take certain safety precautions; meanwhile, in English it declared that the alarm was only a test and that no action was required. This of course left most everybody confused, and resulted in universal inaction as a response to the alarm. The inconsistent messages may suggest that one-time operator error (i.e.: the babe hit the wrong button) can be ruled out.

3) The alarm relayed a full-alert warning message to drivers on nearby I=84 by way of a "digital" highway light-sign, warning them against further progress on the Highway, and to pull off and ???? beats me. Roll up your windows, I guess. These signs were in English, and were coordinated -- so to speak -- with the content of the Spanish language voice recordings broadcast via loudspeaker.

4) Thus, there was another inconsistency: two different English language messages, one (on the road-sign) declaring an actual leak; the other (on the loudspeaker) declaring the alarm to be only a drill.

The news story, which was rather well done, also discussed the reacion of officials at Umatilla and in surrounding communities: grave concern that the confusion of false and authentic alarms broadcast at the same time, will leave area residents baffled in the event of a REAL RELEASE.

In fact, the REAL RELEASE took place only days later. Or was it earlier? In any event the alarm system was ENTIRELY SCREWY as of the flase alarm on December 30, 1999 and the storage depot is still being investigated for the leaking sarin canister(s). Call it "not Y2K" if you want -- its deadly either way.

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-- SH (squirrel@huntr.com), January 03, 2000

Answers

Not a word there about this. Nada.

-- Geoff (me@home.com), January 03, 2000.

See the fisrt post on this subject, by RAT, about 30 + threads down. Jives with the current reports: broadcast messages (English and Spanish)in neighboring Hermiston, OR.

-- Roch Steinbach (rochsteinbach@excite.com), January 03, 2000.

sounds like a microcosms of the warnings on the y2k predicament: inconsistent; chaotic; disorienting; potentially deadly; worse, even.

-- mrunderhill (prancing@pony.com), January 03, 2000.

I was stationed at the Naval Weapons Systems Training Facility in Boardman,Oregon for 18 months during the gulf war,and lived on the depot,can someone mail me with more details?

-- Kevin (cantchoose@webtv.net), January 03, 2000.

Hey SH -

Yep, saw the news cast, and to make the story all the more interesting, many of the locals using I-84 'DIDN'T' obey the signs, and continued on their merry way.

At a town meeting, many of the outraged citizens are demanding answers as to the incorrigibility of those responsible for the system. How will they ever be certain? After all these years of setting the system up, are they now to question the reliability of it? How many false alarms are too many? How many real alarms are in the future of such a mismanaged site? Whew!

-- Michael (mikeymac@uswest.net), January 03, 2000.



Yep. And its SARIN too .. meaning no second chances. It all seems so goofy to the skeptics and pollies, but put yourself in the shoes of the parents in Hermiston, after there has been an actual release and a false alarm all in the same week. "Nervewracking."

-- SH (squirrel@huntr.com), January 03, 2000.

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