Study:  Moving VX byproduct cheaper, faster than treating in Newport

On-site treatment of hydrolysate at Newport would cost up to $347 million more and take up to 57 months longer than hauling the hydrolysate to New Jersey for treatment in a hazardous waste facility, the Army says its comparison study shows.

Deadly nerve agent VX is being neutralized at Newport into hydrolysate, its byproduct, a caustic substance that is not deadly but can cause burns upon exposure. Hydrolysate needs further treatment before release into the environment.

East Coast environmental groups have spoken out strongly against the Army's preferred method of treatment: trucking the hydrolysate to the DuPont waste disposal plant in New Jersey.

The Army on Tuesday released the results of its 20-page "Cost-Benefit Analysis of Off-Site Versus On-Site Treatment and Disposal of Newport Caustic Hydrolysate."

"When evaluating the implementation of each technology from design through operations, the off-site treatment option was demonstrated to have significant technical, cost and schedule advantages over the three on-site options," the report said.

Col. Jesse L. Barber, project manager for alternative technologies and approaches, prepared the report. He said eight technologies were "looked at with five eliminated, which left three that would be applicable for on-site hydrolysate treatment at the Newport Chemical Agent Treatment Facility."

The three processes are chemical oxidation, wet air oxidation and supercritical water oxidation.

Chemical oxidation is a process similar to what DuPont uses at its Secure Environmental Technology facility. A strong oxidant is used to bring down organic components into benign chemicals that can be treated easily, Barber said.

With wet air oxidation, dissolved oxygen is reacted with the hydrolysate at temperatures between 300 and 600 degrees under 3,000 pounds of pressure per square inch. This method converts the organic compounds in the hydrolysate into benign chemical products that can be further treated, he said.

"This process has not been tested with VX hydrolysate, but it has been used commercially for similar products," Barber said.

Supercritical water oxidation uses high temperatures and pressure. "It produces a liquid similar to brine that must be further treated at a commercial hazardous waste treatment facility,"Barber said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported the VX hydrolysate can be transported by truck safely across the nation's highways, Barber said. Only non-detect VX hydrolysate -- neutralized into 20 parts per billion or less -- would be trucked, he said.

"Fifty percent solution of caustics are shipped across the highways every day for commercial use," Barber said. "The 50 percent solution would give you immediate ulceration."

Tests done by DuPont Secure Environmental Treatment Plant indicate that after the VX hydrolysate is treated, it can be disposed of in the Delaware River without harming the three most sensitive species in the river -- flathead minnows, water fleas and green algae, said Jeff Lindblad, Army Chemical Materials Agency public information officer. He said the Environmental Protection Agency reviewed a series of tests conducted by DuPont. The tests were evaluated by the EPA, he said.

"A letter from the EPA disclosed there was no significant concerns," he said.

The Army's preferred method of disposal for VX hydrolysate remains off-site treatment at DuPont, Barber said.

VX neutralization began May 5 at the Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility and continues daily.

Barber said by treating the hydrolysate at the DuPont commercial treatment facility in New Jersey, the VX destruction and VX hydrolysate treatment and disposal can be done at the same time.

"I believe we can be finished with VX neutralization and VX hydrolysate disposal by December 2007," he said.

Patricia Pastore can be reached at (812) 231-4271 or pat.pastore@tribstar.com