Workers destroy first batch of VX

Reactors neutralize 180 gallons of agent; entire process expected to take 30 months

By Patricia L. Pastore/Tribune-Star

Preliminary laboratory analysis indicate two full-scale reactors used for the first time Friday at the Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility successfully neutralized VX.

The process destroyed 180 gallons of the nerve agent by mixing it with sodium hydroxide and water.

This is the first time the deadly nerve agent has been neutralized in large reactors, said Col. Jesse Barber, Chemical Materials Agency project manager of Alternate Approaches. He said smaller prototypes of the reactors were tested at other Army storage facilities.

"We are non-detect," Barber said, explaining the amount of VX left after neutralization is so minuscule it is not harmful.

"I am ecstatic. I have never been so happy about a team and a set of data," Barber said.

The team he speaks of is Parsons, Mason & Hanger and Alion - companies involved with depot operation and VX neutralization - and all others who made neutralizing VX a reality.

"Everything has fit between the parameters we thought would fit. I feel so confident about where we are that I don't mind sharing this information with the community. We believe that the rest of the data will come out rock-solid."

Test results conducted on samples of the mixture processed in the reactors indicate the samples have fewer than 14 parts per billion of VX in the mixture, which is considered undetectable and poses no danger, Barber said.

"These are the preliminary results given to me by our on-site laboratory which is operated by Alion, a Chicago based organization," Barber said. He said a news conference will be conducted Monday when the rest of the test results are available.

Parsons was contracted by the Army to design, construct and operate the Newport Chemical Agent Destruction Facility to destroy the VX stockpile.

On Thursday, steel containers of liquid nerve agent were safely transported from protective igloos at the Newport Chemical Depot to the Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, drained and pumped into holding tanks. The VX was slowly fed into the reactors Friday while being thoroughly mixed with heated sodium hydroxide and water.

A total of 1,269 1-ton containers of VX are stored on the depot. Each container holds about 180 gallons of nerve agent VX, a chemical weapon developed for the Cold War.

At 8 percent by weight, 90 gallons of VX is fed into the 1,000-gallon reactor, containing sodium hydroxide and water at a temperature of about 194 degrees, said Terry Arthur, an Army spokeswoman.

"We started feeding into the first reactor at 6:48 a.m. and finished at 7:30 a.m.," she said. "We slowed the feed rate because there was a slight rise in temperature. When the rate was reduced, it corrected the problem."

Workers started feeding VX into a second reactor at 9:27 a.m. and finished filling it with the 90 gallons of VX within 34 minutes., Arthur said.

The two reactors at the disposal facility have the capability of destroying the contents of a 1-ton container almost simultaneously.

A two-hour separation between the reactor batches is planned so that lab analysis can be performed between the batches, Barber said Friday night.

"Today we did it about 21/2 hours apart," Arthur said.

Samples were taken at three different intervals to run through a gas chromatograph, Arthur said. Gas chromatography is one of the methods used to detect the amount of VX in a sample.

"We know from prior testing at another facility that six hours [of neutralization] produces a non-detectable VX hydrolysate of 20 parts per billion or less, which is a caustic waste that poses no danger to mankind," the Army has said.

The Army and its contractor, Parsons, is committed to doing a very slow start-up.

"Now they are doing it very slowly and checking and rechecking," Arthur said. "As we go along we will be refining the process. As the neutralization process continues, they will get a shorter processing time."

Nerve agent neutralization Friday produced about 2,000 gallons of caustic wastewater, VX hydrolysate. The Chemical Depot has the capacity to store 340,000 gallons of the caustic waste, said Arthur.

She said the caustic wastewater generated during VX destruction will be pumped out of the holding tank and stored in intermodal steel containers that are specifically designed for safe storage and transport.

The Army plans to transport the caustic waste to a commercial hazardous wastewater treatment plant for further treatment and final disposal.

The nerve agent destruction process is expected to be completed in 30 months, Jeff Brubaker, government site project manager, has said.

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

Story created May 09, 2005 - 11:31:16 CDT.