About 5 gallons of wastewater leaked Wednesday at the Newport Chemical Depot, where the U.S. Army is destroying the deadly VX nerve agent.

The spill of hydrolysate -- the byproduct created when VX is mixed in a reactor with hot sodium hydroxide and water -- was contained in a sealed room and nobody was endangered, Army spokeswoman Terry Arthur said.

She said it was unclear Wednesday what part of the equipment had leaked.

Workers in a control room were remotely transferring the hydrolysate from a holding tank back toward the reactor to calibrate a flow meter when they noticed some of the liquid had spilled, Arthur said.

The liquid already had been tested to ensure the VX was destroyed, she said.

The plant has been idle since a faulty valve allowed about 30 gallons of VX to spill June 10, just before a scheduled one-week shutdown.

Restarting the process initially was delayed so workers could replace valves, then delayed again because tests showed the hydrolysate could ignite at temperatures much lower than officials originally had expected.

Arthur said the plant would remain idle until the Army determines what is causing the low flashpoint and is sure it has adequate safety procedures to handle a flammable material. The hydrolysate already is stored in containers approved for flammable liquids, she said.

It is unclear when the process will resume.

VX, so deadly that a single drop can kill a person in minutes, was made only in Newport, from 1962 to 1968. The last two batches -- more than 250,000 gallons -- have been stored there since. About 3,381 gallons have been destroyed.

Call Star reporter Tammy Webbeer at (317) 444-6412.