Army,
DuPont hear from residents on nerve agent disposal plan
March 18, 2004, 1:31 AM EST
CARNEYS POINT, N.J. -- Scores of Southern New Jersey and Delaware
residents have voiced concerns over a U.S. Army plan to discharge the neutralized
residue of a deadly Cold War-era nerve agent into the Delaware River.
Under the proposal, DuPont would treat a neutralized byproduct of the deadly
nerve agent VX. The material would be transported from a stockpile in Indiana
to a DuPont facility in Salem County.
No contracts have been signed between DuPont and the Army, though DuPont's
Secure Environmental Treatment operations has placed a bid to dispose of
the VX liquid.
The first of two scheduled public hearings on the matter drew hundreds of
people to Carneys Point on Wednesday night, including environmentalists and
residents, some of whom are neighbors of the facility where the treatment
would occur.
John Constantino of Deepwater told the Gloucester County Times of Woodbury
that he lives less than 50 yards from the wastewater treatment facility and
he has safety concerns.
Constantino said he's had trouble getting DuPont to address a neighborhood
leaf problem, and fears that if the company won't take care of little things
it may not take care of big things either.
"If the community does not accept this, are you going to go away," asked
Allan Muller, a member of the environmental group Green Delaware, who wore
a gas mask to the meeting.
A single drop of liquid VX can cause paralysis and death within minutes.
The nerve agent was produced until President Nixon issued a moratorium on
chemical weapons production in 1969.
After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the government has sped up the
disposal of such chemicals for fear they might be targeted in future attacks.
More than 1,200 tons of the liquid are stored at the Newport Chemical Depot
in Indiana, where it was produced.
Under the proposal that would bring it to New Jersey, the material would
be neutralized in Indiana by mixing it with hot water and sodium hydroxide.
The resulting chemical would be hydrolysate, which scientists compare to
liquid drain cleaner.
That substance would be hauled to New Jersey where DuPont would remove remaining
chemicals from the liquid and dump what's left into the Delaware River.
Terry Arthur, a spokeswoman for the Newport depot, has said the residue that
would go into the river would be virtually pure water.
If DuPont gets the contract, the liquid would come in on trucks and trains.
The disposal project would take about a year.
The second public information session is scheduled for Friday at the Delaware
Technical & Community College Conference Center in Wilmington, Del., from
6 to 9 p.m.