Brubaker said the process by which the VX - a single drop of
which can cause death - is neutralized has been working smoothly. About a
dozen one-ton containers of VX have so far been drained into the site's two
1,000 gallon chemical reactors, he said.
Army contractor Parsons Technology Inc. began neutralizing
the chemical using 8 percent of VX per volume and has since increased that
loading percentage to 16 percent.
All the processed chemical met the Army's criteria of 20 parts
per billion, or less, of VX, Brubaker said, adding that the startup was going
"better than I envisioned."
More than 250,000 gallons of the Cold War-era chemical weapon
are stored at the depot about 30 miles north of Terre Haute in western Indiana.
The neutralization process is expected to take more than two
years and produce a caustic chemical called hydrolysate that will initially
be stored at the depot. Brubaker said there are enough containers on site
to hold the waste that will be produced through February.
"We are talking to the (Indiana) Department of Environmental
Management pertaining to the possibility of needing additional storage," Brubaker
said.
The Army wants to transport the hydrolysate - which has been
compared to liquid drain cleaner - to a DuPont plant in Deepwater, N.J. for
treatment and disposal in the Delaware River. But that plan has sparked opposition
in New Jersey and Delaware.
Brubaker said the Army and DuPont were working with the Centers
for Disease Control and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to resolve
those concerns.
