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Transport,
incineration of VX wastewater is safe
5/10/2007 10:00 PM
I
have since retired from federal service serving as a public affairs
officer for this country's chemical weapons stockpile destruction
program and I would like to throw my 2 cents at the tripe the Chemical
Weapons Working Group et al, are dishing out.
The material in
question that the Army is transporting to the Port Arthur facility is a
caustic wastewater that results from the chemical neutralization of the
VX nerve agent that has been stored at the Newport Chemical Depot for
more than 40 years.
Sodium hydroxide is used to rip apart the
agent's chemical bonds. What remains is caustic wastewater to which an
additional 4 percent sodium hydroxide is added to ensure continuous
destruction. It should also be noted that 50 percent, by solution, is
transported to the Newport facility for use in the destruction facility
located there.
This type of shipment occurs on a daily basis by commercial industry.
The
Centers for Disease Control and Environmental Protection Agency have
stated, after an in-depth analysis, that the material can be safely
transported and that the only risk posed by the wastewater is its
caustic characteristics, which would only result in chemical burns on
unprotected skin if left untreated.
Hazardous materials
response teams throughout the country are trained, and have the
equipment, to respond to spills of such material.
Though such
wastewater has not ever been incinerated, it is important to note that
at two other Army chemical weapons storage sites, in Tooele, Utah, and
Anniston, Ala,, pure liquid VX from munitions stored there have been
safely destroyed using incineration. An additional two other sites that
have VX munitions will also be destroying their VX stockpiles.
Whether
it is liquid VX or a caustic wastewater from the neutralization of VX,
it can and will be safely done without risk to the public or the
environment.
Burn the almost 2 million gallons wastewater at a permitted incinerator
facility.
Go ahead and file the legal briefs and seek injunctions. I guess with a
legal record of 0 and 21, they can't go wrong.
Jeff Lindblad
Edgewood, Md.
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