Defense Environment Alert 10/04/05

ARMY DISMISSES CITIZENS' ON-SITE TREATMENT SUGGESTION AT NEWPORT

The Army is rejecting a citizen activists' proposal for the military to revise its plan for disposing of VX nerve agent stored at Newport, IN, despite claims that the existing off-site treatment plan poses transportation risks and will likely boost costs, prompt lawsuits and delay destruction.

But in recent correspondence to the activists, the Army says its off-site treatment option best meets the destruction schedule established under an international chemical weapons disposal treaty. The Army also says state and federal regulators, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and Indiana citizens living around the Newport stockpile all support the military's plan.

At issue is the Army's plan for destroying millions of gallons of caustic wastewater that are expected to result from the ongoing demilitarization of 1,269 tons of VX stored at the Army's Newport Chemical Depot. Following initial treatment of the agent at Newport, the resulting hydrolysate will be transported to Deepwater, NJ, where it will undergo secondary treatment at the DuPont Chambers Works facility and be discharged into the Delaware River, according to the Army's plan. But environmentalists and citizen activists have charged the plan poses immeasurable threats to both human and aquatic life.

A Sept. 1 letter to the Army from the citizens' coalition Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG) urged the Army to construct a supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) facility at the Newport depot and use it to destroy the hydrolysate, noting that the Army could save costs by then using the SCWO units for final destruction of chemical munitions at another stockpile site, located at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond, KY (Defense Environment Alert, Sept. 6, p8). This would eliminate transportation risks, as well as environmental and worker risks at the DuPont site, they argued.

Further, at least one environmental group, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, has threatened lawsuits that would likely delay destruction past the 2012 deadline. The United States is up against an extended deadline of 2012 under an international treaty to destroy its stockpiled weapons at Newport and other sites, with some experts skeptical the U.S. will meet the deadline (see related story).

But in a Sept. 27 letter to CWWG, Army Chemical Materials Agency Director Michael Parker calls the suggestion "premature," noting the successful off-site treatment of similar wastewater from chemical weapons stockpiled in Aberdeen, MD. "This clearly demonstrated that the fundamental approach of using a properly permitted and regulated commercial facility is safe for the public and the environment," he says. The letter is available onInsideEPA. com. See page 2 for details.

He cites several other reasons against adopting the group's idea, specifically regulator and CDC support for the method, continuing support among Indiana citizens for off-site treatment at a commercial facility, and questions over the effectiveness of the alternative approach CWWG suggested. Further, he denies that shipping such wastewater violates legal bans on transporting chemical weapons across state lines and says off-site treatment wilt cost substantially less than on-site treatment. And reusing the SCWO units at the Blue Grass site would present engineering challenges, he said, noting the condition of the system might become so degraded after use at Newport it may be unsuitable for use at Blue Grass.

"In summary, the CDC evaluation and evaluations by state and federal regulators agree that public safety is fully preserved by off-site treatment," the letter states. "Maintaining an accelerated destruction of the VX while meeting international treaty goals can be best achieved at Newport by treating the hydrolysate off site at a permitted commercial facility."