Published September 4, 2007 08:40 pm

Veolia celebrates incident free start to hydrolysate incineration

By Justin Sanchez
The Port Arthur News

A half of a million miles into their destination, and Veolia is happy to announce that no incident has occurred in its journey to incinerate hydroslate --the former nerve agent VX -- in Southeast Texans' backyard.

At a meeting held at Veolia Thursday, it was all cheers and smiles as the company, along with representatives from the Army and Tristate, celebrated for reaching the halfway point.

Back when the announcement was made that Veolia secured a $49 million contract with the Army to dispose of around 2 million gallons of hydroslate, the companies decision and over all safety of the project came into question by citizens.

Representatives from Veolia, Tristate and the Army were all on hand to bring out the good news; there has been no incidents since the projects beginning.

"We've achieved more than half a million miles from our start in Newport, Indiana," Veolia West Operations vice president David Lacoste said. "The key words are teamwork and cooperation. We're making sure it's absolutely safe, and legal."

Lacoste said the next load of hydroslate will arrive in the area in less than two days, coming from Newport, Indiana.

Colonel Robert Billington of the Army said that safety has been an integral part of the entire process, and with cooperative partners like Tristate and Veolia, everything has gone smoothly.

"Safety is the over riding paramount," Billington said. "Safety of workers, safety of the community and safety of the environment is always at the top of our list. We take everyone into consideration."

Billington said although it may sound odd, the work at hand is no more dangerous than working in a doctor's office.

With the current progress, incineration of all 2 million gallons should be complete within the next 12 to 18 months.

Veolia and the Army have met resistance from the Sierra Club and local Community In-Power Development Association leader, Hilton Kelley, about the destruction of the product in Port Arthur.

The environmental groups lost an injunction battle waged against the Army and Veolia in an Indiana courtroom this past summer. That did not stop protesters, however, from continuing to picket the destruction of the former nerve agent in Port Arthur just this past week.