By Karen Hensel and Doug Garrison

The deadliest chemical weapon in the world sits by the ton just west of Indianapolis. I-Team 8 has uncovered security concerns about the VX nerve agent.
 
Some say the VX is a ticking time bomb, a terrorist target and an accident waiting to happen. I-Team 8 put security to the test.

After September 11th, there were tough pronouncements from top US officials. “We are at war with the terrorists,” President Bush told the nation. "The terrorists are resolute, but so are we. They plan and prepare, but so must we," said Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge. "We must and will do everything we can to harden terrorist targets within the United States,” said National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.

The danger of terror and weapons of mass destruction comes home to Indiana. Even the US Army says, "The continued storage of these stockpiles represents a significant threat. Destroying (it)...will eliminate a significant terrorist target for our nation.” (Colonel Jesse Barber).

Newport, Indiana, an hour west of Indianapolis, is a national security issue. ”Clearly as long as VX is in Indiana, the danger of exposure to deadly gasses is there," said Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN).

One Drop Can Kill
More than 1200 tons of VX, the world’s deadliest chemical weapon is stored here. "One drop on your skin would kill you,” said Paul Walker, Global Green USA.

"If something were to go wrong, what are you going to do?" said Jon Bussey, a Newport neighbor.

The questions strike with urgency. More than two years after 9/11 there is no endgame. The poisonous agent remains vulnerable.

Doug Garrison, a former FBI agent now with I-Team 8, flew in News Chopper 8 at 5,000 feet – about a mile – above the Newport Chemical Depot, which is the legal height allowed for aircraft. One of the grave threats to this stockpile would be a 9/11 style suicide airplane strike on the complex. At that altitude, it’s apparent that an airplane on a suicide mission could hit the complex within seconds.

Enough Time to Scramble Defenses?
Could defenses in the area possibly be scrambled in time to prevent a strike on the complex? Military sources tell I-Team 8 combat air patrols from St. Louis, Chicago or Detroit would be the first line of air defense.
 
An F-16 traveling at twice the speed of sound would still take at least five minutes to reach Newport.

Joseph Marquart, commander of the Newport Chemical Depot, says off-camera that security there is comparable to the White House. On camera, he compares it to a prison. When asked what could stop a plane from coming down on the facility, he responded, “If it were showing hostile acts our defensive measures here would at least engage it.” He said those measures would be ground procedures.

Satellite images of the depot layout are easily available to anyone - right off the Internet.

"If one of those 9/11 aircraft landed at Newport at the stockpile it would be the worst catastrophe potentially in the history of the world,” said Paul Walker, Global Green.

Tornadoes Also Pose Threat
Terrorists are not the only concern. For years, Indiana officials have worried about tornadoes making the VX nerve agent airborne.
 
"Those canisters are not very heavy - only about 3,200 pounds, which is the size of a small car and in this last outbreak of tornadoes, we saw cars flung all over the place,” said Jerry Hauer, former Indiana State Emergency Management Agency Director.

Hauer, who is now a Washington-based terrorism expert, has warned about Newport for more than a decade.  Fourteen years ago he watched as a tornado passed within one mile of the deadly VX stockpile.

"It's only a matter of time before the odds catch up with you and something blows through that facility,” he said. "And you'd have VX all over the place"
 
Indiana’s storage site of the deadly VX nerve agent is not only vulnerable from the air, ground and weather. There is also the threat of earthquakes.  Indiana sits on the New Madrid fault line. Experts say Hoosiers could feel the shocks from Newport to Indianapolis.
 
A Deadly Accident
Remember: the concern is making the VX, a substance like motor oil, airborne and aerosolized. It happened in Utah. During testing, just twenty pounds of VX was accidentally released to the wind. More than 6,000 sheep were killed up to forty miles away.

If it happened here, it would cut a deadly path nearly to Danville. Only twenty pounds of the VX killed over 6,000 sheep. Indiana stores 1,200 tons.

Sen. Lugar, Indiana's senior senator, has been successful getting rid of weapons of mass destruction in Washington. But he agrees it is still a challenge to protect Hoosiers from the deadly VX sitting in Indiana.

"The intersection of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction is the ultimate event that could change the course of our history,” said Sen. Lugar. It could also change how the US approaches security.

Security Concerns
Since 9/11 the Newport depot has been hardened with tighter security. The Indiana National Guard is on site as homeland security. However, a private contractor provides gate security.  I-Team 8 saw a lone pickup truck with semi-automatic weapons guarding the actual VX. No one is in the guard shacks on all four corners. The VX is stored under mounds of dirt and rocks. As long as 14 years ago, Hauer was saying steel reinforced concrete was the safest.

Terrorists have used high-powered munitions with the power to penetrate armor and bring down airplanes. They are easily transported in an automobile.

Newport boasts it has passed security tests. But nationwide, at several nuclear weapons labs in the past few years, more than 250 keys turned up missing, including keys to perimeter gates.

That’s important to note because I-Team 8 drove and walked along a perimeter gate of Newport in an unmarked SUV.
 
"I'm at a particular security posture that would rival a prison,” said Commander Marquart.
"Really? Because we drove the perimeter and nobody said anything to us," the I-Team told him.
Marquart: "You did today? Okay."
I-Team: "No, a couple of weeks ago."
Marquart: "Okay."
I-Team:  "Should somebody have said something to us?”
Marquart: "It was actually working"
I-Team:  "So you knew we were here that day?"
Marquart: "Uh huh."

But when I-Team 8 pushed for proof they knew we were there...our repeated requests were ignored.

The deadliest chemical weapon in the world sits in Indiana, separated from the outside only by a simple chain link fence topped with barbed wire. No one, no armed guard, ever stopped us. No one ever questioned us.

Some may wonder why we are reporting this. Authorities tell us terrorists and enemies of the United States already know most of this. They are well aware of our vulnerabilities. The point of our investigation is to focus on improving our defenses and strengthening homeland security in Indiana.

As for Newport residents, there are 3,500 people who live in the immediate response zone. If something happened it would be too late to evacuate them. When we asked Senator Evan Bayh and Senator Lugar if they would live in Newport, their answers underscored the nightmare scenario.

Also tonight at 11:00 pm, join I-Team 8 as we explore the critical concern over the aging containers in which the VX is stored. The investigation continues Thursday at 11:00 pm.