Nerve agent wastewater disposal sets off
legal war
By: MIKE D.SMITH, The Enterprise
05/04/2007
Updated 05/04/2007 12:08:53 AM CDT
A coalition of groups trying to stop VX
nerve agent wastewater
shipments to Port Arthur is alleging the U.S. Army overpaid the company
destroying the material because the government knows it is more
dangerous than it claims.
The Sierra Club, environmental
groups in Kentucky and Indiana, and Port
Arthur's Community In-Power Development Association Thursday issued a
new notice of intent to sue the federal government and associated
parties based on new information the groups say they have received.
Workshop:
The
Community In-Power Development Association will host an environmental
workshop today at the Ramada Inn of Port Arthur, 3801 Texas 73 East,
from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., followed by an awards ceremony at 7 p.m.
The group is protesting a $49 million
federal contract with Veolia
Environmental Services to destroy about 1.8 million gallons of VX nerve
agent wastewater at its Port Arthur facility. It is named as a
defendant.
Company and government officials
have said the
material and process are safe. Activists maintain that residents of
Port Arthur weren't given advance warning of the shipments and that the
material is dangerous.
The shipments' opponents plan to
formally file a lawsuit and seek an injunction in an Indiana federal
court in coming days, said Craig Williams, director of the
Kentucky-based Chemical Weapons Working Group, which is involved along
with the others.
In a copy of the notice obtained by
The
Enterprise, the plaintiffs allege the U.S. Army's incineration contract
with Veolia involves prices that are "significantly" higher than market
prices for caustic waste disposal.
"This suggests that the
Army knows that the (material) contains the higher levels of VX and
(other toxins) ... and is not simply a caustic waste," the notice
states.
The notice also says the U.S.
Army's contract with
Veolia involves "unusually high costs," which warrants a new
environmental impact study.
"It (the study) would be expected
to show that a number of available alternative treatment methods could
be used to effectively treat the (wastewater), and at considerably less
cost ..." the notice states.
Veolia environmental and health
safety manager Daniel Duncan denied the assertion, saying a "premium"
is attached to the disposal contract because of the wastewater's high
sodium content.
High-sodium waste must be handled
so that it doesn't degrade the kiln where the wastewater is destroyed,
Duncan said.
"We've developed a mechanism to
eliminate that occurrence, but there is
some extra handling and pretreatment involved in that process that does
cost extra money, time and effort," Duncan said.
The filing
also claims components of the wastewater can reform into VX during
transport, and raises the possibility of terrorist attack.
"The Army's 2002 EA (environmental
assessment) does not discuss or
analyze the risks of international attack or hijacking of (material)
shipments, including the intentional and malicious addition of large
quantities of acid to allow the reconstitution of VX," the notice
states.
Hilton Kelley, director of the Port
Arthur-based
Community In-Power Development Association, said Thursday the material
itself makes the terrorism issue valid.
Kelley said he fears what would
happen not only if it were weaponized for an attack but spilled by
accident.
"We know that all the facts were not
out there, and this is what we
wanted the people of Port Arthur to understand," Kelley said.
Duncan said such a scenario
wouldn't happen, since scientists have assured Veolia that VX can't
reform.
The reason the wastewater is shipped
with a high sodium content is to
ensure that all concentrations of VX are destroyed, he said.
U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency
spokesman Mickey Morales said it is against Army policy to comment on
pending litigation.
Morales did say the Army's disposal
method was recommended by highly
respected research bodies such as the National Academy of Sciences.
The entire procedure is under the
watchful eye of state, national and
international agencies, from the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality up to the international Organization for the Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons.
Any of those regulatory agencies
could shut down the project if they felt it was not proceeding safely,
he said.
"This program has
a number of oversight bodies to ensure maximum protection. In fact,
that's the law passed by Congress," Morales said.
Veolia received six additional
wastewater shipments Thursday for a total of 35 loads, Duncan said.
Thirteen loads had been incinerated
as of Thursday, he said.
Duncan said legal action could
delay the process.
"We don't think that's good for Port
Arthur or the United States,
because we've got commitments as a country to meet deadlines for
destroying this material," Duncan said.
Kelley said the
lawsuit is not about money, but stopping the shipments and making the
Army dispose of the wastewater on-site in Indiana.
