Associated Press
August 14, 2003

Army To Delay Destruction Of Newport Nerve Agent

NEWPORT, Ind. -- The Army said it will delay the destruction of a deadly nerve agent stored at the Newport Chemical Depot, citing environmental and safety concerns.

The delay announced Wednesday was the latest obstacle for a process ordered by international treaty and shadowed by terrorism and the fears of Ohio residents who don't want the treated waste brought to the Dayton area.

The Army had planned to begin destroying in October more than 1,200 tons of VX at the depot about 30 miles north of Terre Haute. But the disposal plant being built to neutralize the nerve agent now is not expected to be ready before January at the earliest, said Jeff Brubaker, project manager for the Army.

The deadly nerve agent was scheduled to be destroyed by April 2007 under the Chemical Weapons Convention international treaty. Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Congress last year ordered the Army to destroy all stockpiled chemical weapons by 2004.

But the process has not yet met Army requirements that prohibit more than 20 parts of VX per billion in the byproduct created when the nerve agent is neutralized. VX is so deadly that even a tiny amount of the thick, oily liquid can kill if it is inhaled or comes in contact with skin.

The Army also has ordered Parsons Engineering, the company hired to build and operate the disposal facility, to install a sprinkler system in case of fire. The system, which will include containment in case of fluid runoff, could take four to six months to design, install and test.

Meanwhile, a citizens group in Ohio filed a federal lawsuit last month to try to block Army plans to ship 300,000 gallons of the VX byproduct, hydrolysate, to a disposal facility in suburban Dayton.

If the hydrolysate cannot be taken to Ohio, the Newport plant could not begin neutralizing VX before April, said Army spokeswoman Terry Arthur.

Parsons is seeking permission from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to built a tank farm to temporarily store the byproduct in case its shipment is delayed.

Army officials were not certain how much the delay in destroying the VX would cost.