August 2,
Army's
VX
Nerve Agent Plan Gets Backing
Health agency says trucking neutralized caustic by-product across U.S. is safe to humans, environment
Lois R. Ember
The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) has given the
Army the green light to transfer the wastewater by-product, or
hydrolysate, from the neutralization of 250,000 gal of VX nerve agent
stored at its Indiana depot to a DuPont facility in New Jersey for
further treatment and disposal.
In its final report released on July 27, CDC concluded that transfer of up to 4 million gal of caustic hydrolysate by rail to DuPont's hazardous waste treatment facility in Deepwater, N.J., poses acceptable risks to the public or the environment. CDC also concluded, with EPA's concurrence, that DuPont's revised plan for secondary treatment of the hydrolysate and ultimate disposal to the Delaware River poses acceptable risks to workers or aquatic life.
New Jersey lawmakers disagree and want the Army to revert to its original plan. That plan would have had the Army destroy the nerve agent using supercritical water oxidation on-site in Indiana.
In May, the House passed a defense spending bill that includes a provision mandating that the Government Accountability Office study the Army's transfer plan for off-site secondary treatment. The Army can't move forward with this plan, even with CDC's approval, until February 2007, when the GAO report is expected to be completed.
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PREPARATION Technician attaches hoses to the first of two steel tanks to be drained of its VX contents. |
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U.S. ARMY CHEMICAL MATERIALS AGENCY PHOTO |