How can the federal government expect South Jerseyans to feel safe with a plan to transport millions of gallons of nerve agent wastewater through the region to be dumped into the Delaware River when it has so miserably failed to control the easiest portion of the plan?

In a laboratory setting, one would expect experts to be able to minimize accidents involving the waste left after destruction of the deadly nerve agent. But that hasn't been the case.

This week, about 300 gallons of wastewater spilled at the Indiana plant built to destroy the substance so deadly a single drop can kill a healthy adult in minutes.

This was the fourth such spill since June, shutting the plant down yet again in an effort to fix the problems.

These frightening failures are at a new plant designed specifically for this function. And the Army wants South Jerseyans to believe its plan to ship the caustic substance left over from the VX-destruction process will somehow be safer?

That's garbage.

There still is not enough information available regarding what would happen if one of the shipments spilled in a residential area or what will happen to the region's drinking water when the former VX agent combines with the already-present pesticides and other chemicals that pollute our drinking water.

It's possible, though more expensive, for the waste to be fully treated in Indiana. Instead of finding reasons to move the project across several states to South Jersey, the Army needs to find a way to finish the work in Indiana.