PENNSVILLE TWP. -- A new technology the DuPont Co. has developed could improve its process for treating wastewater at Chambers Works, including hydrolysate resulting from the destruction of 1,269 tons of VX nerve agent in Newport, Ind., the company has announced.
Comments from different agencies and the public about the VX project "jump started" research on the methods that DuPont now says would significantly remove the phosphonate compounds often found in wastewater, according to Todd Owens, a chemical engineer with DuPont Secure Environmental Treatment.
DuPont is currently conducting a study to determine if the technology is effective on a larger scale. The company expects to complete the study by January 2005.
The environmental effects of dumping VX project leftovers into the Delaware River has been a major concern for groups on both sides of the waterway.
Quantities of two phosphonates -- methylphosphonic acid and ethyl methylphosphonic acid -- were expected to remain in the effluent following treatment, according to a project assessment DuPont released earlier this year.
While the company said the chemicals would not be present in levels toxic to aquatic life, others have said phosphate-containing discharges could bolster the growth of algea, sucking oxygen from the water needed by fish and other creatures, and potentially harm other non-aquatic animals that use the river.
"I believe we would install the phosphonate removal technology for the Newport Project as long as the technology continues to look good," Owens said.
The process -- for which DuPont is seeking patents -- may have applications beyond the disposal of chemical weapons and could be applied to wastewater resulting from several industries, according to Owens.
He said the new technologies include a pretreatment option that would require additional equipment to remove solids and another, biological method focusing on bacteria.
Chambers Works is a focus for the technology since its Waste Water Treatment Plant is the only DuPont water treatment facility that accepts commercial waste, he added.
On Monday, some of the state's largest environmental groups maintained their opposition to the project, whether the technology was utilized in treating VX byproduct or not.
"They might claim they have a great process; we frankly don't believe them," said Amy Goldsmith, director of the New Jersey Environmental Federation. "We're concerned about transportation as well as what might happen to the water."
If the plan goes through, tank trucks would transport VX byproduct from Indiana -- where the nerve agent is being destroyed -- to Deepwater.
Jeff Tittel, director of the Sierra Club's New Jersey chapter, also voiced concerns about trucking the waste cross country.
"The project in general is a bad idea," he said. "Keep it in Indiana."
An assessment of the project's safety conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and federal Environmental Protection Agency is still pending.