Terre Haute Tribune-Star
December 27, 2002

VX waste will be shipped to Ohio facility; Hydrolysate will be treated in Dayton

By Patricia L. Pastore/Tribune-Star
Dec. 27, 2002

The hazardous waste produced by neutralizing the nerve agent VX at the Newport Chemical Depot will be trucked to a facility in Dayton, Ohio, for storage and treatment, an Army contractor announced Thursday.

Parsons, Inc., the company contracted by the Army to both build and operate the Newport Chemical Disposal Facility to destroy 1,269 tons of deadly VX, announced the multi-million-dollar contract.

The waste byproduct, called hydrolysate, will be post-treated at Perma-Fix Environmental Services in Dayton.

The award was made Dec. 21. Perma-Fix operates nationally as a permitted environmental services company, providing waste and industrial disposal management services. Its headquarters is in Gainesville, Fla., said Kirby Pitman, Parsons director of contracts and procurement.

Perma-Fix has eight facilities throughout the United States. Its Ohio site sits about 180 miles from the Newport Chemical Depot.

The neutralization process will create about 900,000 gallons of hydrolysate that will be biologically treated, Kirby said.

"The biodegradation or bio treatment causes bacteria to digest organic compounds in the hydrolysate to form simple chemical compounds such as carbon dioxide, water and solids," he said.

VX is scheduled to be destroyed at Newport in October of 2003 so transportation of the hydrolysate is expected to begin then, Kirby said.

Pitman believes it will take about 300 truckloads to carry away all the hydrolysate from Newport to Dayton, over nine months.

"Hydrolysate is a much diluted sodium hydroxide which is similar to liquid household drain cleaner," said Terry Arthur, Army spokeswoman. The Army has said the substance is similar in toxicity to drain pipe cleaner.

She said Perma-Fix will be responsible for transporting the hydrolysate and will conduct public outreach activities in the Ohio community.

"Outreach is a major factor," Arthur said. "Parsons is working with a company that will make the people aware of what is coming into its community."

Parsons environmental manager Scott Rowden said on-site disposal of the hydrolysate at Newport would have cost $70 million more.

Sara Morgan of Montezuma, spokeswoman for the Citizens Against Incineration in Newport, opposes transporting the hydrolysate elsewhere for treatment. On Dec. 5, she told the Army and Parsons that Vermillion County shouldn't dump hydrolysate on another community.

Morgan was not immediately available for comment Thursday.