The South Jersey site enlisted by the U.S. Army to receive and process waste from 1,269 tons of VX nerve agent has paid more than $200,000 in fines to the state this year for environmental and safety failings.
The VX plans have long drawn opposition from lawmakers and
regional environmental groups, some of whom say the DuPont
Chambers Works complex in Salem County should get its own
house in order before tackling the disposal of a deadly
chemical weapon.
"I think DuPont has a lot of 'nerve' wanting to bring in the VX because they are not managing their plant as cleanly and efficiently as they should be," said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club. Tittel called the plant "one of the biggest polluters in New Jersey."
At DuPont, officials said the site has successfully completed similar projects and has operated within its permits from environmental regulators for decades.
"I think our environmental record is excellent," said Chambers Works Plant Manager John Strait.
Chambers Works is a vast, 1,455-acre complex near the Delaware Memorial Bridge in the townships of Pennsville and Carneys Point.
This year, DuPont paid a $105,000 fine to the state Department of Environmental Protection for several leaks and spills of hazardous substances at the site since 2004 - some of which found their way into the Delaware River, according to DEP records.
The SET facility is where DuPont plans to treat the VX byproduct before dumping the neutralized liquid remains into the Delaware River.
Current plans call for the VX waste to be transported to South Jersey by truck from Indiana, where the nerve agent is being destroyed.
In addition, DuPont paid a separate $99,500 state fine for
various safety violations at the Chambers Works site, such
as failing to ensure that some workers had up-to-date
training.
Excluding the June 2005 incident, Strait said, "A lot of those things don't have anything to do with the operation of the Secure Environmental Treatment Facility."
"I'm very confident in our plant - in how we
handle safety and how we treat the environment and in our
capability to treat outside waste," Strait said.
Strait added that the plant takes any situation on its premises seriously and works cooperatively with the DEP.
Wolf Skacel, a DEP assistant commissioner for compliance and enforcement, said that, under state law, regulators must visit major hazardous waste facilities like Chambers Works on a weekly basis.
"If we're there every week, we're more likely to find something than at a place where we're not there as frequently," Skacel said.
"I'm not terribly surprised by (the violations)," Skacel added. "It is disappointing to me because DuPont is a big player. They have a lot of resources at their disposal. They have a great deal of expertise."
Congressman Robert Andrews, D-1 of Haddon Heights, said he was "disturbed" by the listed violations.
Andrews added, however, that he would be opposed to the VX plans even if DuPont's record were flawless.
"My position is that they shouldn't do the project because it's a bad idea," Andrews said.
The destruction of the Army's VX stockpile in Indiana is under way, but the secondary treatment phase involving Chambers Works was put on hold as the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reviewed the plans for about two years.
And while those entities have concluded that the disposal can be completed safely, the project may still be on hold.
Andrews said a measure is set to go through the Senate and House of Representatives next week that would suspend the project until the Government Accountability Office can conduct its own review.
"In most processes, if there's human error, there's a problem - but it's not a crisis," Andrews said. "This is a process where even one human error could create a crisis, where a tiny amount of VX could find its way into the plant, into the river, and be lethal."
DuPont spokesman Anthony Farina said his company is up to the job.
Chambers Works recently processed mustard gas waste from the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland with no safety or environmental issues, according to Farina.
"We have world-class expertise," Farina said. "This is the business we're in."