Delaware River Still First Choice for VX Nerve Agent By: JACK FICHTER August 4, 3004 DEEPWATER — Transporting treated VX nerve agent to New Jersey for disposal in the Delaware River continues to be the Army’s first choice, according Jeff Lindblad, spokesman for the Army Chemical Materials Agency. While complaints have come from the governors of this state and Delaware, legislators and mayors, Army plans to dump treated VX nerve agent into the Delaware River have been delayed but not stopped. The Army has stockpiled 1,600 tons of VX nerve agent in Newport, Ind. that it proposes to partially treat and turn into a solution called hydrolysate or VXH. It will be transported by truck to this state to the Dupont Chambers Works here for additional treatment and dumping into the Delaware River. The entire process would involve trucking two or three loads a week of the material over a two-year period. “The Army’s preferred alternative is still to have it shipped off a commercial facility for treatment,” said Lindblad. He said the Army has leased 48 intermodal containers that can hold 5,000 gallons each. Lindblad said those containers are transportable and are on site in Newport. An alternative to bringing the VXH to this state would be to construct a “tank farm” to hold 4 million gallons in Indiana. Lindblad said the Army has not pursued that option. Two weeks ago, the Army ran a five-day simulation in Newport of treating the VX as part of a 60-day process called “a demonstration of safe operations,” said Lindblad. The process is done for a Commission Review Board (CRB) made up of members from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, Centers for Disease Control, Department of Health and Human Services, and Army Center for Health Prevention and Preventive Medicine, he said. “The operators of the plant actually go through the process of destroying an agent simulant,” said Lindblad. He said the demonstration was successful but a few faults were found by the CRB. “Once all these necessary corrections are verified to complete, the chairman of the CRB will provide a recommendation saying the facility is ready to begin agent destruction operations,” he said. Lindblad said he expected that recommendation would be made later this summer. The Army is waiting for the results of a study from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) before any final preparations are made, said Lindblad. CDC spokesperson Stephanie Creel said the agency’s study of the VX destruction process was in progress and she could not project a date of its completion. She said the CDC study was examining the health hazards with VXH remaining in Newport, risks associated with transporting VXH to this state, the ability of DuPont to treat the solution adequately here and potential ecological hazards to the Delaware River. Creel said EPA was conducting the river ecology study. CDC’s report will be sent to Congress, she said. “We have confidence it can be safely treated off-site,” said Lindblad. DuPont spokesman Anthony Farina, in a written statement, said while DuPont is confident it can treat the neutralized VX wastewater, “we acknowledge the questions and concerns that have been raised by the public and state regulatory agencies.” The statement said DuPont will work with regulatory agencies in this state and Delaware to “address questions and resolve issues” concerning safety of the project. “We will not pursue this project unless we can do it in a safe and environmentally sound manner,” said Farina. “And, we are confident that we can.” Maya K. van Rossum of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network said no one has been able to obtain information from the CDC or EPA as to findings or status of the reports. She said there is opposition to the dumping of VX wastewater in the river from local, state and federal officials. “I think the Army has blinders on if they think one report from the CDC gets them over the hump, assuming the CDC comes back with a favorable finding,” said van Rossum. If treated VX is transported to Dupont, it will first be treated in batches in Indiana. Lindblad said the VX is placed in large steel cylinders called reactors and mixed with sodium hydroxide and hot water. The Newport facility was built in the 1960s to make VX nerve agent. One drop of VX can kill a human in 15 minutes. VX has an oil-like consistency designed to allow it to cling to plants and shrubs and kill passing troops. On March 14, 1968, 6,000 sheep were killed by a test of VX nerve agent from a fighter jet at the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah. Production ceased under a order from President Nixon in 1969, said Lindblad. The VX has remained on site in one-ton containers. A treaty ratified by Congress in 1997 ordered the destruction of the VX, he said. According to CDC's Creel, all chemical weapons and production facilities must be destroyed by 2012.