NEWPORT, Ind. -- A monitor detected the presence of VX nerve agent as workers dismantled items at the Newport Chemical Depot today, but two people were cleared of possible exposure to the deadly agent.

The two employees were working on a project to dismantle the final stages of the former VX production facility when a beeping monitor alerted them to the possible presence of traces of the agent, said Lt. Col. Scott Kimmell, the commander at the depot.

The crew went through a medical examination and blood test. The results were normal, and the workers were released, Kimmell said in a news release. No other workers nor the public were in any danger, he said.

"Because the plant was used to manufacture nerve agent, we fully expect to encounter VX as we progress toward final demolition," Kimmell said. "It's for that reason that we take every precaution to ensure worker and public safety."

The government has been dismantling the VX production site since August 1998.

The Army stores more than 1,200 tons of VX nerve agent at the depot in Newport, about 30 miles north of Terre Haute.

The VX was scheduled to be destroyed by April 2007 under the Chemical Weapons Convention international treaty. Congress ordered the process sped up following the 2001 terrorist attacks.