for more information contact:
Craig Williams (859) 986-7565
Dr. Michael Sommer:281-474-7188
Hilton Kelley: 409-498-1088

for immediate release: Sunday, December 16, 2007

NATIONAL TV NEWS PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS VX WASTE BURNED IN TEXAS
Army Refuses on Camera Interview: Scientist Claims Improper Testing of Waste

Saturday's CBS Weekend Edition news program featured a segment on the Army's continued shipments of VX nerve agent waste (called VX Hydrolysate or VXH) to an incinerator in Port Arthur, Texas.

Last April, the Army's Chemical Materials Agency secretly signed a contract with Veolia Environmental Services to burn this waste after citizens and elected officials in Ohio and New Jersey refused to allow it to be treated in their respective states.

Citizens groups continue to fight the shipments in federal court in Indiana, the origin of the waste product generated from the neutralization of VX nerve agent, the most lethal chemical in the U.S. arsenal of chemical weapons. At issue, among other things is the their claim that the Army has not properly characterized the waste, downplaying its toxicity.  

Interviewed was Dr. Michael Sommer, a forensic environmental chemist who said, "Their [The Army's] fundamental misunderstanding is two-fold: 1) they neglected or did not understand the nature of the material once its been reacted and 2) they were never able to test it, at least using appropriate methods to see if there was any VX left in the solution.

Also, the fact that the Army ignored the required analysis of Environmental Justice issues in their decision-making process has been raised in court and in the media. Port Arthur is a comparatively poor community and 60% African-American.

Also interviewed was Hilton Kelley - a community activist who grew up in Port Arthur and founded the Citizen In-Power Development Association located there. Speaking of the VXH shipments and all the associated pollution emitted from petroleum refineries and other emissive industries he appealed to the Army, "Do not disproportionately impact our community , we have lives here, we have kids here we have family here, and we deserve a better quality of life than what we are getting from the United States."

Veolia's plant Manager admitted on camera that the incineration facility has no capability to determine if VX agent is escaping out of the smoke-stack - one of the concerns voiced by local and national environmental and social justice organizations.

The Army refused to be interviewed on camera to address any of these concerns.

Chemical Weapons Working Group Director, Craig Williams noted, "Obviously the Army didn't wish to be questioned on camera about how no one measures for VX emissions or why this community wasn't extended the same courtesy of notification and involvement that other communities (OH/N.J.) were extended."

Left unchecked, approximately 2 million gallons of VXH will be shipped almost 1000 miles across America's highways to be burned in Port Arthur.

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Narrative can be seen at: http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2007/12/15/couricandco/entry3622872.shtml
Video can be seen at:
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3622737n&channel=/sections/eveningnews/videoplayer3420.shtml