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A collection of environmental and community groups in six states has strongly criticized an Army proposal to destroy byproducts from a chemical weapons disposal process. In a letter to Chemical Materials Agency (CMA) Director Michael Parker dated Monday, the 16 groups accuse the Army of distorting the safety of a proposal to treat wastewater from a chemical disposal facility in Newport, Ind., at a DuPont plant in Deepwater, N.J. The letter, signed by representatives of organizations in Indiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Delaware and Kentucky, claims the Army ignored questions raised by state agencies over the safety of a process that removes pollutants from wastewater before releasing it into the Delaware River. “Such distortions are unfortunate,” the letter says. “They not only undermine the credibility of the Army on this particular dimension of the chemical demilitarization effort, but they have a nationwide ripple effect that impacts all aspects of the Chem De-mil program at all sites.” The Army repeatedly has argued that the disposal plan is safe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention withheld recommendation of the plan last April, citing incomplete information on DuPont’s plan. The Army and DuPont say that information has been furnished to the CDC and shows the plan would eliminate 95 to 99 percent of pollutants from the wastewater. “The CDC believes caustic and corrosive characteristics of the wastewater are the most dangerous,” said CMA spokesman Greg Mahall, who said the CMA is working with the CDC to address any concerns. “Dangerous is dangerous. It’s very simple.” The disposal proposal already has run into strong opposition from members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation and politicians in Delaware and Pennsylvania. Newport, unlike Anniston and other chemical weapons disposal facilities, uses a neutralization process, which mixes VX with hot water and lye. The process creates a wastewater byproduct with phosphonates – a type of polluting salt. DuPont says its process would remove virtually all of the phosphonates from the byproduct before the wastewater is released into the Delaware River. The letter is a response to a Parker letter of Sept. 27 to the Berea, Ky.,-based Chemical Weapons Working Group, in which he defended the disposal plan. CWWG Director Craig Williams said in a telephone interview Tuesday that his group, which has been critical of the Army’s handling of chemical weapons disposal, was taking a more visible role in the controversy. “The general atmosphere is not one that is embracing the thought of bringing this stuff across the country, treating it there and dumping it into the Delaware River,” Williams said. “Anyone who’s taken a position, which is quite a lengthy list, is opposed to this. We’re trying to propose a solution.” That solution is a process called Supercritical Water Oxidation, which Williams and the letter signers say could work on-site at Newport. The Army considers it expensive and flawed; Mahall said testing the process at one-tenth of the scale needed at demilitarization sites showed it damaged liners, nozzles and other equipment. “It would be that proverbial Pac-Man-type game eating itself,” Mahall said. “That would result in high maintenance and constant liner replacement.” In April, the CDC issued a report on the Army’s treatment plan based in part on an earlier Environmental Protection Agency report. The CDC approved moving the wastewater to DuPont’s Deepwater Plant. However, it withheld approval of the plan, citing EPA’s concerns about how aquatic life in the Delaware River would be protected and also the presence of certain stabilizing agents in Newport’s VX stockpile, which may not meet clearance criteria. The CDC should release a report on the process early next year, Mahall said. Williams said part of his concern stemmed from the chemical neutralization process that will be used at the nearby Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond, Ky. His group wants Supercritical Water Oxidation facilities built at Newport, then disassembled, disinfected and rebuilt in Kentucky after Newport finishes its VX campaign. “If you look into the crystal ball, there could be shipments not just to New Jersey, but all over the country,” he said. “Our perspective is, move the technology, don’t move the waste. That’s not always applicable, but in this case it is, and in many cases it is.” |
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About Brian Lyman
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Brian Lyman covers infrastructure and the cities of Heflin and Lincoln for the Anniston Star. He lives in Anniston. |
| Phone: Fax: E-mail: |
256-235-3544 256-241-1991 blyman@annistonstar.com |
