TRISTATE
| Nerve agent residue is now campaign issue |
| Wednesday, June 22, 2005 |
|
WASHINGTON - Sen. Jon Corzine turned neutralized VX nerve agent into a campaign promise Tuesday, saying he would never let the Army dump the stuff into the Delaware River if he's elected governor.
The state Department of Environmental Protection said in May that it would not issue a permit to allow DuPont to further treat the VX byproduct before it's dumped into the Delaware. Corzine said that, if elected in November, he would order the agency to continue that policy.
"I certainly can assure the people of southern New Jersey that post-Jan. 17, if I happen to be the governor, it won't be permitted," Corzine said.
The DEP cited a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that said it could not guarantee that all traces of the deadly chemical would be removed from the wastewater leaving the Army's facility in Indiana, where the VX is stored.
Rep. Robert Andrews, one of the Democrats interested in filling Corzine's Senate seat should he win the governor's race, also promised to keep the VX byproduct from being dumped into the Delaware River.
"Your efforts here in Washington, and the commitment that you've made should you serve in Trenton, makes us sure that that will be the result," Andrews told Corzine during a news conference in the senator's office.
The Army's plan is unpopular with most in southern New Jersey, including the Republican House members who represent the area and GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Forrester.
Sherry Sylvester, Forrester's campaign spokeswoman, questioned why Corzine and Andrews hadn't yet been successful in getting the Army to find another way to destroy the millions of gallons of VX nerve agent currently being destroyed in Indiana.
"Doug will have more influence in Washington to get this done," Sylvester said, alluding to Forrester's friendship with President Bush. Forrester also raised more than $100,000 for Bush's reelection campaign.
Workers at the Newport Chemical Agency Disposal Facility in Indiana have begun destroying the VX nerve agent stockpile to neutralize more than 250,000 gallons. The end-product is a chemical called hydrolysate, which the Army compares to drain cleaner. Destroying the VX, which is mandated by the International Chemical Weapons Convention Treaty, is expected to take more than two years.