NEWPORT, Ind. --
The Army has announced that they will send samples of the nerve agent VX
to laboratories in Illinois and Maryland.
It wants to test the process it plans to use to destroy the deadly material.
The tests will determine if the wastewater resulting from its destruction
is safe to transport from Indiana to a final disposal site in New Jersey.
Technicians will extract samples of VX from its carbon steel containers, and
the samples will be packaged and escorted to the Army labs in Edgewood, Md.,
and Illinois.
The VX will be neutralized there and the byproduct will be tested. The resulting
chemical would be hydrolysate, which scientists compare to liquid drain cleaner.
If the tests are successful, the army plans to ship neutralized VX to DuPont's
Secure Environmental Treatment facility in Deepwater, N.J., located along
the Delaware River. DuPont would break down the wastewater and dump what's
left into the river
