A worker at the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility had bottled air supply problems Tuesday, necessitating help from emergency backup personnel.

Hal McCune, spokesman for Washington Defense Group, said two workers wearing a scuba-like air tank and mask were replacing filters in an air filter bank. One worker was in the air filter bank, passing used filters to his partner, who was standing in the first of two vestibules, Vestibule A. The worker in the vestibule lost air to his mask and moved to the second vestibule, Vestibule B, to get his second mask.

Because his mask clouded up, he could not find the second mask and moved outside the vestibule. McCune said he “followed the light” to get outside.

“He quickly exited the work area, put on a new mask, and removed some of his protective equipment with help from emergency backup personnel,” said Bruce Henrickson, spokesperson for the Army.

Crews detected a low-level reading of VX on the sealed bag of his used equipment, McCune said. However, because the air was flowing – at 2,500 cubic feet per minute – from the outside into the air filter bank during the filter change, no agent was detected outside the vestibules or on the worker.

McCune said generally, air is flowing out through the filters during normal operation.

“No chemical agent was detected by two different types of monitoring equipment in each of the two vestibules through which the worker passed as he exited the work area to get air,” Henrickson said. “When he re-entered the vestibule, additional monitoring revealed no agent present on him.”

The worker was evaluated at the on-site medical clinic and had no symptoms of agent exposure. Army and plant personnel are reviewing plant controls, procedures and training to prevent a similar incident, Henrickson said.