DuPont Backs Out of VX Hydrolysate Disposal Plan
CHEMICAL
WEAPONS WORKING GROUP
128 Main
St. Berea KY 40403
859-986-9868
859-986-2695 (F)
www.cwwg.org kefcwwg@cwwg.org
for
more information contact:
Elizabeth Crowe (859) 986-0868
DUPONT BACKS OUT OF VX HYDROLYSATE DISPOSAL PLAN; CITIZENS CONTINUE CALL FOR ON-SITE TREATMENT
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Elizabeth Crowe (859) 986-0868
for
immediate release: Friday, January 5, 2007
DUPONT BACKS OUT OF VX HYDROLYSATE DISPOSAL PLAN; CITIZENS CONTINUE CALL FOR ON-SITE TREATMENT
This
afternoon, DuPont confirmed that it has backed out of a U.S. Army plan
to ship nerve agent hydrolysate from Newport, Indiana to DuPont's
Deepwater, NJ treatment facility. Community groups, conservationists,
union members and citizens stretching from Indiana to New Jersey have
advocated that the wastes be safely treated on-site, rather than
raising chemical security, worker safety and environmental risks by
shipping the waste for treatment at an offsite commercial facility.
In a press statement released today, DuPont indicated its reasons for its decision, saying "...it has become increasingly clear to us that the approval process [for hydrolysate treatment] will be lengthy and arduous, even with the supportive conclusions reached by the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in their independent reviews. Therefore, we believe it is in the best interests of New Jersey and DuPont not to proceed."
"The CWWG has always felt that burdening some other community with the risks of hydrolysate disposal was wrong," said Craig Williams of the Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG), a coalition of citizens living at U.S. chemical weapons sites. "It doesn't make sense from the standpoints of chemical security, environmental justice, or worker safety to ship chemical agent wastes across state lines when the same waste can be safely treated at its source."
In Indiana, the Army had agreed to use neutralization and supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) for total destruction of chemical weapons. Then after 9/11 the Army began pursuing off-site shipment of chemical agent hydrolysate under the assumption that it would be cheapter and faster than on-site treatment. The CWWG has long called these assumptions into question.
More recently the Army repeatedly asked the Madison County, KY residents and chem demil advisory groups to consider supporting off-site shipment of chemical agent hydrolysate; the answer has always been a resounding "no."
"Madison County residents support on-site neutralization and SCWO because its safe, and because we are not interested in needlessly spreading the risks associated with chemical agent waste to other communities," said Elizabeth Crowe of the CWWG. "Hopefully this development will cause the Army to commit to on-site SCWO here in Kentucky."
In a press statement released today, DuPont indicated its reasons for its decision, saying "...it has become increasingly clear to us that the approval process [for hydrolysate treatment] will be lengthy and arduous, even with the supportive conclusions reached by the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in their independent reviews. Therefore, we believe it is in the best interests of New Jersey and DuPont not to proceed."
"The CWWG has always felt that burdening some other community with the risks of hydrolysate disposal was wrong," said Craig Williams of the Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG), a coalition of citizens living at U.S. chemical weapons sites. "It doesn't make sense from the standpoints of chemical security, environmental justice, or worker safety to ship chemical agent wastes across state lines when the same waste can be safely treated at its source."
In Indiana, the Army had agreed to use neutralization and supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) for total destruction of chemical weapons. Then after 9/11 the Army began pursuing off-site shipment of chemical agent hydrolysate under the assumption that it would be cheapter and faster than on-site treatment. The CWWG has long called these assumptions into question.
More recently the Army repeatedly asked the Madison County, KY residents and chem demil advisory groups to consider supporting off-site shipment of chemical agent hydrolysate; the answer has always been a resounding "no."
"Madison County residents support on-site neutralization and SCWO because its safe, and because we are not interested in needlessly spreading the risks associated with chemical agent waste to other communities," said Elizabeth Crowe of the CWWG. "Hopefully this development will cause the Army to commit to on-site SCWO here in Kentucky."
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