WASHINGTON -- Despite the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rescinding five concerns that it had identified in the DuPont Co.'s plan to process the neutralized byproduct of a military nerve agent in Salem County, opposition remains.
New Jersey lawmakers claim the VX nerve agent proposal is no closer being launched.
"This project never should happen and I believe never will happen," said U.S. Rep. Robert Andrews.
U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo issued a statement saying, "I remain concerned about this proposal and I continue to follow this situation closely. This is an important issue that needs to be comprehensively examined to determine the risks associated, and must be fully evaluated and approved by the state before moving forward."
Gov. Jon S. Corzine may prove a barrier to the proposal. Corzine as a U.S. Senator staked out strong opposition to the VX proposal.
"The Bush Administration just does not get it. New Jersey is no dumping ground. The Delaware River is to be treasured and protected, not mistreated and ignored," Corzine told reporters in June 2005.
The U.S. Army wants DuPont to dispose of up to 4 million gallons of wastewater derived from VX, a chemical warfare agent banned by international treaty. The Army has already begun to neutralize the VX reserves at a plant in Newport, Ind.
The treatment of the remaining wastewater, or hydrolysate, would be done at the DuPont Chambers Works plant in Deepwater and released into the Delaware River.
The Environmental Protection Agency says there are no ecological threats to the project.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must publish its own findings about the human health impact of the VX plan later this spring, probably in April.
"I am currently reviewing the EPA's report that was issued late last week, and I will await the CDC's final report in the coming months," said LoBiondo, R-2nd Dist.
Andrews claims the hydrolysate can be disposed of through some approach other than treatment at the Chambers Works facility, perhaps one that does not require the Army to haul the hydrolysate from Indiana to New Jersey.
Andrews, D-1st Dist., says he wants to review a cost-benefit analysis that the Army must produce. Andrews, LoBiondo and U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton, R-3rd Dist., required that cost-benefit study as part of a defense authorization bill last year.
Anthony Farina, a DuPont Co. spokesman, said that his firm was awaiting publication of the CDC report. "We haven't signed any contract" with the Army, Farina said.