By Frank Lockwood

Staff writer

HERMISTON A long haul truck driver filed a lawsuit in September against two companies involved in the transport of hundreds of drums from the Armys Umatilla Chemical Depot (UMCD) near Hermiston.

Richard Carras, who was employed to pick up drums for transport, alleges negligence and intentional tort which resulted in long-term adverse health effects. A tort is a civil wrong calling for compensation in damages.

Carras is represented by James McCandlish, the same attorney who represents workers who filed suit over a Sept. 15, 1999 incident at Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, in which construction workers became ill.

Carras has filed the suit against Phillip Services Corporation, Inc., which is a Delaware corporation, and against Container Management Services, LLC, a California limited liability company. (For the full story please read the Oct. 2, 2001 issue of the Hermiston Herald.)