Fire safety halted neutralization
By JEFF MONTGOMERY / The News Journal
08/03/2005
The Army hopes to restart a chemical weapon neutralizing plant in Indiana that was idled in June because of concerns about fire threats from its toxic waste.
Jeff Lindblad, a spokesman for the Army Chemical Materials Agency in Aberdeen, Md., said contractors hope to remove the flammable chemical blamed for the fire risk before the VX nerve agent waste is stored for final treatment at a plant.
Officials want to use a plant along the Delaware River near Wilmington for ultimate disposal.
Discovery of the fire threat triggered angry warnings from New Jersey, site of a DuPont Co. wastewater disposal plant that the Army wants to use for final disposal of chemicals from the broken-down nerve agent.
Gov. Richard J. Codey in June banned trucks carrying the Army waste from using the New Jersey Turnpike on trips to DuPont's Deepwater plant, opposite Wilmington.
"We don't want it dumped in our river, and we don't want it on our highways or railways," said Kelley Heck, spokeswoman for Codey. "They have said all along that it's not as dangerous as we would believe. We feel that it poses a public health risk, a homeland security risk, a traffic risk and an environmental risk."
VX ranks among the deadliest chemicals ever produced for mass killing. The United States is now destroying all of its stockpiles. Neutralization methods at the Newport, Ind., depot involve mixing VX with hot water and a chemical similar to drain cleaner to create a less toxic by-product.
Lindblad said that the Army plans changes so that the wastes cannot ignite at temperatures of 140 degrees or lower. That's the same standard used for a nationwide hazardous waste management program.
Contractors originally expected that waste liquids from the process would be safe from fire at temperatures below 200 degrees. They discovered that the material could ignite between 68 and 88 degrees.
Lindblad said that the flammability concerns were traced to one compound, called diisopropylamine.
"They'll basically try to remove it. I'm not sure of the whole process," Lindblad said. "They're looking at various ways."
David Small, deputy secretary for Delaware's Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, said state officials are monitoring the process and waiting for the results of safety studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Environmental Protection Agency.
"We're still in a holding pattern, as far as I know," Small said.
Into Delaware territory
DuPont's Deepwater plant stands in New Jersey but discharge pipes from its industrial wastewater treatment operation empty into a part of the river inside Delaware's border. The company's proposal to take waste from the Army VX disposal program put the arrangement under a public spotlight and led to stepped-up talks between the two states on regulating pollution from Deepwater.
Alternative approach
The DuPont plant treats most of New Jersey's industrial wastewater and takes wastes from around the nation.
DNREC officials challenged DuPont's original wastewater treatment proposal, arguing that some toxic compounds would escape to the river, along with large amounts of phosphorus. The element promotes conditions in lakes and rivers that deplete oxygen levels.
DuPont later proposed an alternative approach, still under federal review, that is expected to break down and capture remaining toxic materials and phosphorus.
Contact Jeff Montgomery at 678-4277 or jmontgomery@delawareonline.com.