The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention health and safety report is expected to be released this month amid new efforts to delay the treatment deal and new questions about Army claims that international deadline pressures made DuPont's plant essential.

In a separate development, the U.S. House this week approved a bill requiring a comptroller general's review of Army cost-saving claims for treating neutralized VX nerve agent wastewater at the DuPont Co. Chambers Works in Deepwater, N.J.

Three South Jersey congressmen inserted language in the House-passed annual defense authorization. The review, which still requires Senate approval, could delay final approval of the VX waste treatment plan until at least Feb. 1.

"The language that we included in the [National Defense Authorization Act] calls for an honest reassessment of whether this is the right thing to do," said Rep. Rob Andrews, D-N.J., a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

"I'm not convinced this project is right and I'm very thankful we're going to have a thorough independent review by the [General Accountability Office]. The Army will not be permitted to proceed with this project until that review has been completed," Andrews said.

Army officials released a report last month estimating the nation would save $347 million and nearly five years by sending the neutralized waste to Deepwater, at the foot of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, instead of treating it at a stockpile and processing site in Newport, Ind.

"The congressmen all want an independent study and cost-analysis, other than just the Army's," said Jason Galanes, a spokesman for Rep. Frank A. LoBiondo, R-N.J.

VX ranks among the world's deadliest nerve agents, capable of killing in amounts as small as a tiny droplet.

The Army wants to neutralize 11,269 tons of the chemical with hot water and a drain-cleaner-like chemical.

About 4 million gallons of caustic waste liquids would then go to Deepwater for final disposal at DuPont's commercial treatment plant. Most of the most dangerous leftovers would be broken down, settled out and buried in a hazardous waste landfill near the river.

Stephanie Creel, a CDC spokeswoman, said a health, safety and ecological review of the plan already has undergone final checks and is "in its final stages."

The Environmental Protection Agency already has found the plan was unlikely to harm the river or aquatic life.

"It's obviously a priority and it's something that we're working on actively," Creel said. "In terms of an exact deadline, I don't have one. We're not giving a time, we're just saying as soon as possible."

Jeff Lindblad, a spokesman for the Army Chemical Materials Agency in Aberdeen, Md., described the report as imminent.

"I know that we're close. I feel pretty certain that it's gong to come out in May," Lindblad said.

Army officials would still have to complete environmental impact reports before starting the shipments to New Jersey.

Supporters of the DuPont plan argued it would help the United States meet a 2012 deadline for destroying all chemical weapon stockpiles, as required under an international treaty.

But the Chemical Materials Agency earlier this week conceded that only the Newport plant was likely to meet the deadline, leaving the majority of stockpiles unfinished.

Contact Jeff Montgomery at 678-4277 or jmontgomery@delawareonline.com.