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Posted
on Fri, Jul. 28, 2005
Nerve agent plan gets CDC
support
The agency called a revised proposal to dump VX waste in the Delaware
safe.
By Joel Bewley and Sandy Bauers
Inquirer Staff Writers
The federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention yesterday endorsed the Army's plan to haul neutralized VX
nerve-agent wastewater from Indiana to South Jersey for dumping into
the Delaware River after it is treated at a DuPont Co. plant.
"The Army's plan is protective of public
health," said Howard Frumkin, director of the CDC's National Center for
Environmental Health.
But U.S. Reps. Robert E. Andrews and Frank A.
LoBiondo, both from South Jersey, said the 39-page report did nothing
to ensure that absolutely no VX would end up in the river.
"The CDC is saying that if everything goes
the way it is supposed to, there would be no significant health risks,"
Andrews said. "Their conclusion is based on the rosiest scenario and
the best-case assumptions."
The Army wants to destroy its stockpile of
the Cold War-era nerve agent, which is stored in Newport, Ind. A tiny
drop of the liquid in its raw form is considered fatal.
Under the proposal, the Army would neutralize
the VX and haul as much as four million gallons of hydrolysate, a
corrosive byproduct, to Salem County by truck or train.
It would be further treated at the DuPont
Chambers Works in Deepwater, near the Delaware Memorial Bridge, before
being released into the river.
The Army has said its proposal would be as
much as $347 million cheaper and two years quicker than on-site
disposal of the VX.
Andrews, a Democrat, and other members of the
South Jersey delegation to the House have asked the Government
Accountability Office to review the plan.
"We believe the GAO study will show there are
too many risks, too many unanswered questions, and too many reasons not
to go forward," Andrews said.
Lawmakers first asked the CDC to investigate
after the Army's plan was made public in January 2004. Last year, the
CDC and the Environmental Protection Agency said that based on the
Army's original plan, discharge from the DuPont plant might harm
aquatic life.
Yesterday's report, based on changes to the
disposal plan, found no such problem.
"Having the CDC independently verify that our
proposal is safe for the workers, the public and the environment is
extremely important," said Jeff Lindblad, a spokesman for the Army
Chemical Materials Agency.
A DuPont statement said that the company was
pleased, and that the report showed the proposal "can be completed
safely and effectively."
Opponents of the plan said concerns about the
safe transportation of the hydrolysate matched the worry over its
possible effects on the river.
Five transportation routes have been
proposed, ranging between 800 and nearly 1,100 miles through Indiana,
Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Andrews and LoBiondo, a Republican, said the
Army's proposal would be unacceptable under any scenario.
"This is so serious," LoBiondo said.
"Residents are scared out of their wits."
Contact staff
writer Joel Bewley at 609-261-0900 or jbewley@phillynews.com.
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