AP New Jersey
NJ Department
of Environmental Protection rejects nerve agent waste
By REBECCA SANTANA
Associated Press Writer
May 20, 2005, 7:45 PM EDT
TRENTON, N.J. -- In an effort to prevent the residue
of a Cold War nerve agent from being released into the Delaware River, New
Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection issued a new draft permit
Friday to prevent DuPont's Deepwater plant from handling the material.
As part of plans to cut down on Cold War-era stockpiles of chemical weapons,
the Army in early May began destroying about 250,000 gallons of VX nerve agent
at the Newport Chemical Depot, about 30 miles north of Terre Haute, Ind.
Neutralizing the VX nerve agent will create 4 million gallons of a byproduct
called hydrolysate that also needs to be treated and then disposed.
DuPont would like to accept and treat the hydrolysate at the Secure Environmental
Treatment Facility at its Chambers Works plant, which treats about 15 million
gallons of industrial wastewater daily. The end product would then be released
into the Delaware River.
On Friday, acting Gov. Richard J. Codey, citing safety concerns, instructed
the Department of Environmental Protection to issue a new draft permit that
would prevent the facility from accepting and treating the treated VX nerve
agent.
"New Jersey continues to oppose the United States Army's proposal to transport
nerve agent waste from the Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana to DuPont's
Chambers Works environmental treatment facility in New Jersey," said Codey,
in a written statement.
In a letter to the secretary of the Army, Codey said he was particularly
worried about a report by the Centers for Disease Control stating that they
could not guarantee that all traces of the deadly chemical would be removed
from the waste leaving the Army's facility in Indiana. While a small amount
might not affect human health, it could be detrimental to fisheries in the
Delaware River, Codey said.
The governor also voiced concerns about the army's plan to transport the
VX waste by truck through New Jersey.
But a representative for DuPont, Anthony Farina, said the company never intended
to import the substance under the company's current permit and is pursuing
a separate agreement which would allow it to import and treat the material.
"We are in agreement that this project should not move forward until the
concerns are addressed to everyone's satisfaction," said Farina.
Farina said the DuPont facility just finished treating 4 million gallons
of wastewater from neutralized mustard gas from an Army facility in Aberdeen,
Md.