Just a drop of VX will kill an adult. Some 1,269 tons of lethal VX nerve agent stored at a U.S. Army facility in Newport, Ind., is in the process of being turned into VX hydrolysate. The U.S. Army and DuPont Chemical Company plan to transport this nerve agent waste in tank trucks across four states -- from Indiana to New Jersey.

Their preferred transportation route is on Pennsylvania's Interstate 80 to the New Jersey Turnpike at Newark to Deepwater in Salem County. DuPont plans to process the hydrolysate and discharge it into the Delaware River.

The hydrolysate is highly corrosive (pH>13) and contains toxics.

In fact, it may contain up to 20 ppb of live VX since the Army says that is the detection limit to which they will test.

Other components in the waste include Ethylmethylphosphonic Acid (EMPA), Methylphosphonic Acid (MPA), 2-(Diisopropylamino) Ethanethiol or Thiolamine (which aids in the reforming of VX), and EA 2192 (which is similar to but not as deadly as VX). Any contact could result in severe, possibly irreversible burns to the skin or eyes (CDC, p.13).

A spill would require emergency HAZMAT response and could kill fish and contaminate water supplies.

For nearly 40 years, chemical weapons have been stored at the Army's Newport Chemical Depot, as well as other sites around the country, from Anniston, Ala., to Umatilla, Ore.

The Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997 requires destruction of chemical weapons by all signatories.

Originally the Army agreed with its Indiana Citizens Advisory Commission to destroy the VX nerve agent on site in Newport. Following the attacks of Sept. 11, however, the Army shifted course and decided to transport it to an alternative chemical facility for final treatment and disposal.

First they tried to ship it to Ohio but public opposition and a refusal from the state DEP killed that plan. Then the Army proposed to ship the VX hydrolysate to DuPont on the Delaware River. Public hearings were held in Spring 2004.

People came out by the hundreds against the plan; public outcry has been expanding ever since.

Presently the Army is using a chemical neutralization process that mixes VX with water and sodium hydroxide, creating hydrolysate, which is stored at Newport. The process does not completely destroy the chemical agent, however, which is why the hydrolysate must be further processed.

The Chemical Weapons Convention mandates that chemicals like those in the hydrolysate be destroyed completely because together they could reform VX. This hydrolysate is what the Army wants to truck -- two to three tank trucks per day for two to three years -- over 1,000 miles of public highway to the Dupont facility.

One must ask: Isn't there a better way to destroy VX, one that does not expose people to such terrible risk?

The answer is YES. A process called Supercritical Water Oxidation (SCWO) can be used to destroy the hydrolysate on site.

In a SCWO process, hydrolysate is fed into a contained system that works somewhat like a pressure cooker where the toxic components of the hydrolysate are broken down into carbon dioxide, water and salts. SCWO was approved by the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (ACWA) program as safe and effective, the citizens of Indiana accepted it, and the State of Indiana granted the Army a permit for it. The SCWO process, which does not require a hazardous discharge to any waterway, is environmentally superior to the Army's proposal, which includes dumping dangerous toxins into our Delaware River.

The international treaty deadlines are looming. New Jersey and Delaware have made clear that needed permits for treatment and dumping at DuPont will not be easily forthcoming. Our Delaware River and communities should not be forced to suffer this major assault. The Army needs to resume the SCWO process in Indiana so our nation can responsibly honor our commitment to destroy our chemical weapon stockpile.

The SCWO option on site in Indiana eliminates the human health and environmental dangers of transport, provides a higher level of chemical safety and security (recognizing the shipments are an obvious terrorist target), effectively destroys VX, and does not discharge pollutants to any river.

How could the Army propose to expose residents to the unacceptable and unnecessary hazards of transport and discharge of VX nerve agent waste when there is a better way to get the job done that avoids those risks?

The governors of New Jersey and Delaware, NJDEP, Congressional representatives, scores of towns and counties and thousands of residents are steadfastly opposed to the idea. Yet the Army and DuPont continue to press their plan, bolstered by the federal Centers for Disease Control's recent green light to the project, based on data DuPont and the Army submitted.

As we mark the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11, it is hard to believe such a proposal could have gotten as far as it has. But the Army carries much weight in today's world. It is our responsibility as New Jersey citizenry to speak up to our elected officials and tell them no VX to New Jersey; destroy VX on site in Newport through environmentally safe technology.

Maya K. van Rossum is the Delaware Riverkeeper.