Plans to discharge treated nerve agent byproduct in the Delaware River should be halted until the Army explains.

The Army appears to have a bigger problem with disposing of Cold War-era chemical weapons than simply completing a controversial deal to ship wastewater byproduct to a DuPont plant in Salem County.

The Daily Press in Newport News, Va., recently reported the Army has dumped 64 million pounds of nerve and mustard agent, 400,000 chemical-filled bombs and 500 tons of radioactive waste in the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, including off the New Jersey coast.

Last year, a clam boat 20 miles off Atlantic City dredged up a shell filled with mustard agent. Three Dover Air Force Base technicians were injured handling the shell. There is an ongoing danger that more chemical agents disposed of at sea will be dug up.

We agree with U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews, D-Haddon Heights, that the Army's plan to ship wastewater byproduct of the deadly VX nerve agent to Salem County for further treatment and dumping into the Delaware River ought to be halted.

The Army's handling of these deadly nerve agents doesn't inspire confidence that New Jerseyans and other residents will be protected from harmful exposure to these chemicals.

Over the weekend, 490 gallons of the wastewater the Army wants to ship to New Jersey was spilled at a chemical treatment plant in Virginia. During the summer, the same plant had a 30-gallon spill blamed on a malfunctioning valve.

The Army also recently learned the wastewater was more flammable than previously believed. This makes shipping the wastewater byproduct by rail to New Jersey, as previously proposed, even more hazardous.

There are too many unknowns to the plan.

No wastewater from VX nerve agent byproduct ought to be shipped to New Jersey or anywhere until the Army develops a comprehensive chemical weapon safety plan.

That plan ought to include identifying where such weapons were dumped off the coast of New Jersey and other states from the 1940s to the 1970s. This information is needed to help environmental officials minimize any risk these chemical agents might pose to the people and environment.

New Jersey's congressional delegation ought to join Andrews in asking the Army to detail where chemical waste has been dumped in the oceans.

The delegation also ought to renew objections to the Army's plan to ship VX nerve agent byproduct waste to New Jersey until more is known about the risks associated with the Army's past and ongoing disposal procedures.