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United Press International News. Analysis. Insight. |
NEWPORT, Ind., April 26 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army says it would be cheaper and faster to move an obsolete deadly nerve agent from Indiana to New Jersey for detoxification.
A report issued Tuesday said onsite treatment of the nerve agent VX at the Newport Chemical Agent Treatment Facility in rural western Indiana would cost up to $347 million more and take up to 57 months longer than hauling it to New Jersey for treatment in a hazardous waste facility.
Neutralization is already under way at Newport, where the agent is first turned into hydrolysate, a caustic substance that is not deadly, but can cause burns upon exposure.
Hydrolysate needs further treatment before it can safely be released into the environment, the Terre Haute (Ind.) Tribune-Star reported.
Environmental groups have spoken out against the Army's preferred method of treatment of trucking the hydrolysate to the DuPont waste disposal plant in New Jersey. But the report's author, Col. Jesse Barber, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has concluded VX hydrolysate can be transported by truck safely across the nation's highways.