By AL MASCITTI
08/26/2004

So much for assurances that we shouldn't worry about the VX nerve agent the Army wants to process through the DuPont Co.'s Chambers Works.

The news that traces of the deadly toxin survived a test of the Army's neutralization process gives critics of the plan more ammunition in their drive to scuttle it. But it also dramatized the important role watchdog groups play in safeguarding the public - and underscored worries about state government's continuing efforts to restrict their role.

When it comes to VX, Delaware's environmental department is truly on the public's side. Gov. Ruth Ann Minner already has expressed her opposition to the plan to dump the neutralized, diluted byproducts into the Delaware River.

But that's rarely the case. Many of the state's biggest polluters have hired lawyers and lobbyists with close ties to Minner - people like Gary Patterson, a petroleum industry lobbyist, and Mike Parkowski, a plugged-in lawyer who has represented Sunoco, among other polluters.

That's one reason people who work for environmental groups are suspicious of efforts to curtail public questions and comments at permit hearings before the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

For months the agency has been working on a policy that would "fix" something that was never considered a problem by previous governors, Democratic or Republican. First the administration tried to muzzle such watchdog groups by claiming they needed legal representation to speak at public hearings. More recently they have taken the position that applicants for permits do not have to answer questions from the public.

Many other states operate that way. But Delaware, home to hundreds of chemical engineers and thousands of chemical industry workers, has a long tradition of allowing questions from those who attend such hearings. In an industry famous for falling victim to a practice known as "regulatory capture" - when regulators get too close to the industries they supposedly monitor - knowledgeable private citizens have often functioned as the public's last line of defense against polluters.

Environmental groups voiced their concerns again Monday after a hearing last week for a permit for Premcor, the latest name of the former Motiva refinery near Delaware City. They were not allowed to directly question company officials, even about such straightforward matters as the quantities of various pollutants they wanted to discharge.

That's significant because only those watchdog groups kept Motiva from gaining approval for a plan that would have dumped thousands of tons of sulfur salts into the river - a plan the state was ready to approve.

In the case of the VX proposal, Delaware regulators have been far more vigilant, noting that even if no nerve agent remained, some of the byproducts could harm aquatic life in the river. Yet when word of the troublesome test results came out, environmental groups sounded the alarm within hours - much quicker than government agents could react.

Minner isn't likely to cut ties with people like Patterson and Parkowski; indeed, re-election will only strengthen her hand. Only action by the General Assembly can preserve the practices that have done so much to safeguard the public over the years. Without it, we could see our watchdogs muzzled.

Contact Al Mascitti at 324-2866 or amascitti@delawareonline.com.