DuPont
tests VX byproduct in river
Thursday, May 6, 2004
Firm discloses 4-month study of `treatability'
By LAWRENCE HAJNA
Courier-Post Staff
CARNEYS POINT
DuPont on Wednesday acknowledged it treated the waste byproduct of VX nerve agent and discharged a small amount of the resulting material, which it described as a "clear, nontoxic effluent," into the Delaware River.
The discharge was part of a study that ultimately determined the company could safely handle larger quantities of wastewater from the destruction of the deadly nerve agent at an Army depot in Indiana.
In a statement, DuPont did not specify when the discharge occurred. But the company said 25 liters - or 6.5 gallons - were analyzed over a four-month period as part of a "treatability study." The company released the study in March.
An environmental group was angered after learning of the test. The Washington Crossing, Pa.-based Delaware Riverkeeper Network argues DuPont and the Army have failed to keep the public informed about key developments in the project.
"It's outrageous that we now find out that they tested it and discharged it into the river without anyone knowing," said Tracy Carluccio, the group's project director. "People would have been up in arms about it."
The test discharge was "completed safely" under permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection, DuPont spokesman Anthony Farina said in the statement.
The sample wastewater, first analyzed and treated in a laboratory, was "collected and processed with the daily 15 million gallons of wastewater" discharged from DuPont's Secure Environmental Treatment plant, the statement said.
Farina said DuPont conducts similar tests on thousands of "sample wastewaters" every year. "Before it agrees to accept any wastewater, DuPont conducts treatability studies on every wastestream to ensure that the SET facility can treat it safely and effectively," he said.
Sam Wolfe, DEP's assistant commissioner for environmental regulation, is reviewing reports from DuPont, noting that the company did not notify the DEP prior to testing.
"We're working through what DuPont has told us so we can determine whether they were authorized to do this under its current permit without any notification to us," he said.
"Since we're dealing with a very small quantity, I would be surprised to see a real impact from it," Wolfe said of the discharge.
The samples of the caustic wastewater byproduct known as hydrolysate were obtained from the Army's Newport Chemical Depot in west-central Indiana. DuPont has submitted a proposal to treat up to 4 million gallons of the wastewater for an undisclosed sum.
The Army has not yet begun full-scale destruction of the nerve agent, one of the deadliest substances ever made. The DuPont contract is on hold pending a review by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Gov. James E. McGreevey and Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner have also asked the Army to reconsider the plan.
Thursday, May 6, 2004
Firm discloses 4-month study of `treatability'
By LAWRENCE HAJNA
Courier-Post Staff
CARNEYS POINT
DuPont on Wednesday acknowledged it treated the waste byproduct of VX nerve agent and discharged a small amount of the resulting material, which it described as a "clear, nontoxic effluent," into the Delaware River.
The discharge was part of a study that ultimately determined the company could safely handle larger quantities of wastewater from the destruction of the deadly nerve agent at an Army depot in Indiana.
In a statement, DuPont did not specify when the discharge occurred. But the company said 25 liters - or 6.5 gallons - were analyzed over a four-month period as part of a "treatability study." The company released the study in March.
An environmental group was angered after learning of the test. The Washington Crossing, Pa.-based Delaware Riverkeeper Network argues DuPont and the Army have failed to keep the public informed about key developments in the project.
"It's outrageous that we now find out that they tested it and discharged it into the river without anyone knowing," said Tracy Carluccio, the group's project director. "People would have been up in arms about it."
The test discharge was "completed safely" under permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection, DuPont spokesman Anthony Farina said in the statement.
The sample wastewater, first analyzed and treated in a laboratory, was "collected and processed with the daily 15 million gallons of wastewater" discharged from DuPont's Secure Environmental Treatment plant, the statement said.
Farina said DuPont conducts similar tests on thousands of "sample wastewaters" every year. "Before it agrees to accept any wastewater, DuPont conducts treatability studies on every wastestream to ensure that the SET facility can treat it safely and effectively," he said.
Sam Wolfe, DEP's assistant commissioner for environmental regulation, is reviewing reports from DuPont, noting that the company did not notify the DEP prior to testing.
"We're working through what DuPont has told us so we can determine whether they were authorized to do this under its current permit without any notification to us," he said.
"Since we're dealing with a very small quantity, I would be surprised to see a real impact from it," Wolfe said of the discharge.
The samples of the caustic wastewater byproduct known as hydrolysate were obtained from the Army's Newport Chemical Depot in west-central Indiana. DuPont has submitted a proposal to treat up to 4 million gallons of the wastewater for an undisclosed sum.
The Army has not yet begun full-scale destruction of the nerve agent, one of the deadliest substances ever made. The DuPont contract is on hold pending a review by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Gov. James E. McGreevey and Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner have also asked the Army to reconsider the plan.