Flashpoint:  Committed to safety at Newport Chemical Depot

Together, as commander of the Newport Chemical Depot and the site project manager for the Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (NECDF), we are committed to providing the public with information regarding our project. We rely upon media, such as the Tribune-Star, to ensure that you have the most precise information. The following is just that, a summary of the most clear, accurate and to-the-point information related to the Newport project.

First, the Army is not proposing to transport the liquid nerve agent VX. The Army’s contractor, Parsons, is destroying the nerve agent on site in Newport using a caustic neutralization process in which the VX reacts with the caustic chemical called sodium hydroxide and is irreversibly destroyed. To date, more than 35,000 gallons of nerve agent from the Newport stockpile have been destroyed at the NECDF.

The resulting byproduct of the neutralization process, a caustic wastewater called hydrolysate, is made up of 85 percent water, 11 percent phosphorous- and sulfur-containing organic salts, and 4 percent sodium hydroxide. It is corrosive. To put this in perspective, industrial strength liquid drain cleaner is nearly pure sodium hydroxide and more corrosive than hydrolysate. Additionally, we bring onto the depot regular shipments of the sodium hydroxide, in a 50 percent solution, for use in the neutralization process.

The caustic wastewater is tested by the on-site laboratory to ensure that no detectable agent remains. We work closely with numerous government and independent oversight agencies, including the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, who oversee all depot operations, including storage, neutralization operations, management of caustic wastewater and laboratory analysis to confirm complete destruction of the chemical agent.

Currently, the wastewater is being stored on site in intermodal containers, also referred to as ISO containers. The area where the ISO containers are stored has numerous safety and environmental compliance features. We have received a temporary authorization from IDEM to begin using a newly constructed area on the depot to safely store hydrolysate. Upon approval by IDEM of a permit modification, we will be able to store the wastewater at this new location, and up to three others to be constructed as needed, for longer than 90 days.

The Army is proposing to use a safe and secure process to transport the caustic wastewater to DuPont’s Secure Environmental Treatment facility in Deepwater, N.J., to use their state of the art facility to further treat the wastewater. The caustic wastewater will NOT be dumped into the Delaware River, but would be safely treated to remove the phosphonates and further treated using DuPont’s patented activated carbon biotreatment process. The resulting effluent or liquid would then be tested. Only after ensuring that the effluent meets New Jersey’s permit and regulatory requirements — limits to ensure protection of the public and the environment — would the water be released into the Delaware River.

The Army is committed to the safe transportation and disposal of the caustic wastewater. The Army and DuPont both have conducted transportation analyses that determined the transportation of caustic wastewater can be performed safely. The findings of the analyses concluded that transport of the hydrolysate does not pose any unique transportation safety concerns or unacceptable environmental impacts in comparison to transport of routine commercial hazardous material shipments, such as the 50 percent sodium hydroxide shipments that routinely are transported to our facility.

In addition, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Environmental Protection Agency released an initial report of their independent review and found that transportation and handling of the wastewater could be done safely. We are waiting for the final CDC report before deciding on a final disposal resolution for the wastewater.

We will continue working with the CDC and other agencies to ensure that destruction of the nerve agent, and disposal of the resulting wastewater, is accomplished safely for the workers, the public and the environment.

We are extremely proud of the Newport team and their accomplishments and have the utmost confidence in their professional abilities, talents and expertise. The United States is safer due to the diligent efforts of the Newport team.

Commander
Newport Chemical Depot

— Jeffrey Brubaker

Site Project Manager
Newport Chemical Agent
Disposal Facility