EPA drops opposition; Salem may still get VX
By JAMES DEWEESE Staff Writer, (856) 794-5114
Published: Sunday, February 26, 2006
Updated: Sunday, February 26, 2006
The Environmental Protection Agency has dropped its opposition to a plan
to transfer a wastewater byproduct from a chemical weapons deactivation depot
in Indiana to a Salem County treatment facility.
But New Jersey environmental groups, labor unions and officials expressed
continuing concern about DuPont Co.'s plan to treat and then dispose of the
neutralized chemical weapon wastewater in the Delaware River.
Army engineers at a Newport, Ind., weapons depot are using a chemical reactor
to neutralize about 1,200 tons of the deadly nerve agent VX, which is capable
of quickly killing an adult after exposure to a pinhead-sized droplet.
DuPont has been seeking a lucrative contract with the U.S. Army to bring
as much as 4 million gallons of hydrolysate, a caustic byproduct of the deactivation
process, to the company's Chambers Works commercial wastewater-treatment facility
in Deepwater, Salem County.
“While it's been neutralized, it is by no means completely risk-free: The
caustic substance itself would be corrosive to skin and to the water,” said
Jane Nogaki, vice chair of the New Jersey Environmental Federation. “There's
no point in risking a travel accident or a worker accident by transporting
it. It should be done in Newport.”
The DuPont United Steelworkers Local 943, which represents workers at the
Deepwater facility, also has signaled its opposition to the plan.
“There are some safety concerns. It won't create jobs and it won't even guarantee
the jobs they already had,” said union member John Hall, who has worked at
the plant for almost 38 years. “The union would encourage any new jobs that
are safe and healthy for the workers and the public.”
Hall is also a member of the board of the New Jersey Environmental Federation.
Local union President Jim Rowe could not be reached for comment Saturday.
In recent weeks, DuPont officials have scheduled meetings with various southern
New Jersey municipalities, including Bridgeton, in Cumberland County, to
explain its proposal.
The EPA cited new safety assurances and changes to the treatment scheme as
a reason to withdraw opposition to the plan, according to a letter obtained
Friday by The News Journal of Wilmington, Del. Wilmington draws drinking
water from the Delaware River.
“EPA believes that all of our previously identified ecological concerns have
been resolved,” said Walter Mugdan, director of the EPA's Environmental Planning
and Protection division in New York.
Delaware and New Jersey opposed an earlier version of the plan. Officials
expressed concerns that traces of VX, other toxic byproducts and basic pollutants
would reach the river even after treatment in DuPont's plant near the foot
of the Delaware Memorial Bridge in New Jersey.
The plan still faces a number of hurdles, including a review by the federal
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state permitting approvals.
Elaine Makatura, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental
Protection, said the agency only became aware of the EPA's decision late
Friday afternoon.
“I think that in their decision they clearly recognize the state's right
to regulate,” Makatura said. “In this case there are no permits pending before
us at this time.”
Makatura said she could not comment on what objections, if any, the agency
would raise until a permit request is filed.
“I'm not stunned by the decision. I'm skeptical in the sense that I need
to review the evidence, and I think my staff has the same attitude,” John
A. Hughes, secretary of Delaware's Department of Natural Resources and Environmental
Control, told The News Journal late Friday.
“We did say early on that it's going to take new technology to make the VX
treatment acceptable. The treatment level of the original plan was much too
low,” Hughes said.
The EPA's latest findings were forwarded to the CDC, where analysts are considering
human health risks posed by the Army's plan. A final report is expected to
go to the region's congressional delegations in April.
Anthony Farina, a spokesman for DuPont, said the company was aware of the
development and has yet to review details.
“Certainly we've been working very closely with the EPA in addressing their
concerns,” Farina said. “We look forward to seeing the final report when
it's completed and released.”
Comments from DuPont in mid-2004 indicated the company could make $13.5 million
annually during the two- to three-year treatment process. Details of the
contract or government payments to DuPont during preparations for the work
were unavailable.
Army officials could not be reached Friday.
The Newport VX disposal depot reported earlier this week that it had destroyed
about 11 percent of a 250,000 gallon VX stockpile, with wastewater from the
process stored in mobile containers pending a decision on the DuPont project.
In November, U.S. Rep. Robert Andrews, D-1st, said a 490-gallon hydrolysate
spill that caused the brief shutdown of the Indiana deactivation facility
underscored safety concerns about transporting a caustic wastewater byproduct
that Army officials have compared with drain cleaner.
Spokesman Brendan Gilfillan said New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine remains concerned
about the proposal.
“We're still very interested in seeing the result of the CDC's study of the
human impact,” Gilfillan said.
Although the EPA found DuPont had proved its discharge would meet federal
toxicity limits, the agency recommended additional work, including studies
of fish and other aquatic life before treatment begins. The EPA, New Jersey,
DuPont and the Delaware River Basin Commission would collaborate in those
studies.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.