About 490 gallons of wastewater leaked Oct. 29 from a section of a reactor system in the facility, which destroys bulk VX nerve agent by mixing it with hot water and lye. Processing operations were suspended immediately, and the leak was contained. The cause of the leak still is under investigation. Crews have
spent the week pumping the spilled wastewater back into a storage area. "It's moving along," said Dennis Lindsey, a Newport spokesman. "They're still working on it. It hasn't been totally completed yet, but it's pretty well cleaned up." Weapons destruction at Newport has moved in fits and starts since the demilitarization campaign began in May. Last June, about 30 gallons of a VX and wastewater mixture that was being fed into a mixing tank spilled in a secured area of the facility. Lindsey said the two incidents were not related. The June spill, combined with an unexpected stop in processing because of a wastewater flashpoint issue, brought weapons destruction to standstill until August. Processing will not resume until crews discover the source of the most recent leak. "Everything was put in a safe mode that day, and it will stay that way until we find out exactly what happened and correct it so it doesn't happen again," Lindsey said. The facility has destroyed 55,356 pounds of VX since processing began in May. |
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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 |
