Citizens Call for Moratorium
on
Nerve Agent
Waste Treatment to Review Latest CDC/EPA Report
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:
Craig Williams, CWWG, (859) 986-7565
CITIZENS CALL FOR MORATORIUM ON NERVE AGENT
WASTE
TREATMENT TO REVIEW LATEST CDC/EPA REPORT
Groups say the fate of nerve agent wastes
should be
determined by prevention of risks; support
safe treatment of waste in Indiana
In the midst of
growing opposition
to an Army plan to ship nerve agent hydrolysate for treatment at a New
Jersey
DuPont facility, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) today, after more
than a
year, released its second report on the viability of this plan. In
their
earlier Report the EPA, part of the study team, noted specific problems
associated with the Army's proposal
- to treat the hydrolysate and dump the end product in the
Delaware
River. Citizens groups from five
states along the proposed transportation corridor and reception area
oppose the
Army's proposal and for more than three years have instead urged the
Army to
destroy the hydrolysate safely where it originates, at the Newport,
Indiana
chemical weapons disposal facility.
Today the groups are calling for a moratorium on any action by
the Army
or DuPont until after a 180 day review period - providing concerned
citizens,
and their experts, adequate time to analyze and comment on the
report.
Newport, Indiana is
one of the
original eight continental U.S. chemical weapons/agent storage sites. Newport's cache of Cold War-era VX
nerve agent is currently being neutralized in a low-temperature,
low-pressure
facility - supported by local
residents who opposed incineration of the lethal agent.
The neutralization process results in a
liquid "hydrolysate," which could contain trace amounts of nerve
agent and is itself a hazardous waste.
The Army originally intended to destroy the hydrolysate at
Newport with
a citizen backed and government approved technology called
Supercritical Water
Oxidation (SCWO). However the Army
subsequently decided to ship the hydrolysate to a commercial waste
treatment
facility under the assumption it would be faster and cheaper. A diverse range of communities and
organizations from Indiana to New Jersey, including local
municipalities,
oystermen, conservation groups, environmental justice groups,
yachtsmen, and
labor unions have urged the Army to stick with SCWO for treatment of
the
hydrolysate, rather than send it to DuPont where it will be treated
then dumped
into the Delaware River.
Newport, Indiana
resident Sara
Morgan said "The Army claims this option will save money, but I'm not
buying
it. They say it will be faster,
but three years have already been wasted when they could have used SCWO. They say it will be safe, but there are
too many unanswered questions."
Tracy Carluccio,
Deputy Director,
Delaware Riverkeeper Network agreed with Morgan, and said that groups
in the
Delaware River region need time to review the CDC report, to assess
what
questions and concerns remain about the impacts of the hydrolysate on
the river
ecosystem. "The DuPont proposal has met with fierce opposition from all
quarters and that opposition continues to expand. The
people and their elected representatives will fight the
Army's plan to truck VX nerve agent waste and discharge it to the
Delaware
River", said Tracy Carluccio, "The Governors of New Jersey and
Delaware,
elected representatives, municipal and county governments, fishermen,
watermen,
recreational boaters, conservationists, environmental groups and
thousands of
residents have gone on the record in opposition to the Army's DuPont
plan and
Congress has recently called for a General Accounting Office analysis",
said Carluccio.
In addition to the
Governors from
New Jersey and Delaware, New Jersey Representative Rob Andrews has been
in the
forefront of this opposition.
State groups including the New Jersey Environmental Federation
and New
Jersey Work Environment Council (NJWEC) appreciate the commitment of
Rep.
Andrews and other elected officials to protecting New Jersey residents
from
this unnecessary risk and hope they will continue their efforts. Rick
Engler of
the NJWEC said bringing VX hydrolysate to New Jersey is exactly the
scenario
the state should want to avoid.
"At a time when our state and our nation are focused on chemical
security - preventing risks of worker and community exposure to toxic
chemicals
- why would we want to ship this waste and treat it here when a safer
alternative exists?"
Chemical Weapons
Working Group
Director Craig Williams said, "Throughout the chemical demilitarization
program, we have maintained that people impacted by this program should
be
directly involved in decisions that affect the health and well-being of
their communities. It is imperative that
the public have
ample time to review and input on this latest CDC report."
Williams noted that
previous Army
statements and studies on the VX hydrolysate disposal issue seem to be
exaggerated and erroneous. "
The cost and schedule data they provide on Indiana bears no resemblance
to the
cost and schedule data for more complex neutralization and SCWO
treatment of
chemical weapons at other chemical weapons sites. Citizens,
our experts, and elected officials must be provided
the time to review this report, and continue to push for a solution
based on
precaution and prevention of risks rather than a mere, and in fact
questionable, cost-benefit theory.
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