Dayton Daily News
July 18, 2003

Citizens group sues Army over VX plan; Environmental impact study not done, suit says

BYLINE: Dale Dempsey ddempsey@DaytonDailyNews.com
DATE: July 18, 2003
PUBLICATION: Dayton Daily News (OH)
EDITION: CITY
SECTION: NEWS
PAGE: A1

DAYTON - The U.S. Army violated federal law by failing to perform an environmental impact study in the area where it hopes to dispose of a byproduct of VX nerve agent, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court.

The lawsuit, brought by a citizens group, seeks an injunction to prohibit the Army from transporting, treating or disposing of hydrolysate at the Perma-Fix Environmental Services plant in Jefferson Twp. The suit, which names Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as a defendant, claims the Army is in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act. "The Army needs to follow the law and prepare an Environmental Impact Statement which examines the impacts on this community before they can bring this dangerous material here," said Ellis Jacobs of the Legal Aid Society of Dayton and lead attorney in the suit.

Jeff Lindblad, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Chemical Material Agency in Maryland, said he could not comment until he has read the lawsuit.

The Army announced late last year that it plans to begin destroying its 40-year-old stockpile of VX nerve agent. The agent, an oily, tarlike substance used in the manufacture of chemical weapons, is being stored in Newport, Ind., under the provisions of the Chemical Weapons agreement signed by President Clinton in 1997.

The hydrolysate, which is not instantly lethal like VX agent but still classified as a hazardous material, would be trucked to Dayton to be treated and disposed of at Perma-Fix, 300 S. West End Ave., off West Third Street. Perma-Fix is conducting tests on the process, and shipments could begin in October.

The group opposing the plan, Citizens for the Responsible Destruction of Chemical Weapons, filed another federal lawsuit in April against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Defense claiming that the plan violates federal environmental justice laws. The neighborhood surrounding Perma-Fix has a 33 percent poverty level and is 35 percent black.

Unlike the previous federal lawsuit, which called only for a hearing before the EPA, the lawsuit filed Thursday could halt the project if a federal judge grants the injunction.

The Army did an environmental impact study, completed in July 2002, on the disposal of hydrolysate around the Newport, Ind., storage facility, which is two or three miles from residential areas.

"In Indiana, people are miles away. Here they are a couple of hundred feet," said Mary Johnson of the citizens group.

The Indiana environmental impact study points to a number of possible dangers in the transport and handling of hydrolysate.

Hydrolysate storage and treatment can lead to emissions of toxic air pollutants, and a fire could create hazardous conditions for firefighters, the report said. A spill during transportation could require an evacuation, the environmental study said.

"A fire at Perma-Fix would impact a lot of Montgomery County," Johnson said.

The Army's $9 million contract with Perma-Fix has a clause that requires public acceptance of the plan. U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, wrote a letter to Army officials in April, saying Jefferson Twp.'s opposition alone should be enough to nullify the contract. Seventeen other local governments have passed resolutions opposing the plan.

Contact Dale Dempsey at 225-2270.