By Karen Hensel
Produced by Loni Smith McKown

Two government agencies are telling two different stories about the safety of the destruction process of VX nerve agent at Newport, and the people of Indiana are caught in the middle.

The US Army says its plans for neutralization and disposal of the nerve agent are safe, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is raising red flags.
 
I-Team 8's cameras were the only ones to catch the federal-level debate at a congressional hearing earlier this month about the safety of the Army's pilot project at Newport just days before destruction of the chemical weapon is scheduled to begin.

A CDC report on VX destruction is at the center of a national debate. It says VX will continue to sit in Indiana because the army has approval to destroy only half of it. What is destroyed will leave four times as much waste. The waste, which also will sit in Indiana, still has trace elements of VX.

These issues regarding the Army's process were hashed out in Washington on April 6, 2005, at a congressional subcommittee hearing in a damning report by the CDC.

New Jersey Congressman Rob Andrews called for the CDC report. “Everything I've seen of this process says the people in charge of getting rid of these weapons have always been unprepared,” said Andrews (D-NJ).

His state is fighting disposal of the VX byproduct into the Delaware River. The waste, called hydrolysate, is a highly corrosive substance that's frequently compared to Drano.

Activists question if it's not okay to dump in the Delaware River, why is it okay to sit in Indiana?

Bottom line: Andrews says the Army has a credibility problem. “I must say, with all due respect, that the credibility of all of you involved in managing this program took a bit of a hit,” said Andrews at the hearing.

“Are you telling us that there has been a shift in priority from public safety/national security to cost?” said Rep. Marty Meehan (D-MA).

The report casts doubt on the truth of the Army's information and the safety of its impending plans in Indiana.

“CDC believes that the Newport facility can begin effectively destroying approximately half of the VX stockpile,” said Thomas Sinks, CDC.

The key word is half. The CDC hasn't approved the Army's process to neutralize the other half, raising Andrews' anger at the Army.

“So there's some real doubt as to whether the method you've chosen is gonna even address half of the problem,” said Andrews.

Indiana Senator Evan Bayh wants the destruction process to begin. He wants the VX agent neutralized so it's not a potential target for terrorist attack.  “Let's take this a step at a time,” said Sen. Bayh (D-IN).

“Studies provided to CDC to date support destroying smaller portions of VX per batch than was originally designed,” said Sinks.

“Which I think means you got a lot more stuff to handle, process, transport, dispose of than you thought you did,” said Andrews.

The original plan to destroy all US chemical weapons called for a $2 billion, ten-year plan. Now it could be a $35 billion, 30-year plan.

“CDC cannot recommend proceeding with the disposal plan,” said Sinks.

Both the CDC and the Environmental Protection Agency are now raising red flags about an issue I-Team 8 first reported a year ago that trace elements of VX are still in the hydrolysate.

Still, the Army has its marching orders and destruction will begin.

“We think it's the right decision to start the process, but store on-site until we do the final disposition,” said Dale Klein, Department of Defense.

When Rep. Frank Lobiondo (R-NJ) asked, “So it's safe to assume they're happy about this,” the Army’s Claude Bolton replied, “Oh yes, sir. We've been talking to the community there.”

But not according to Indiana Congressman John Hostettler. “They want the byproduct gone,” he said.

So does Indiana's senior Senator Richard Lugar.  “I don't want to store it, if we can avoid doing that, on the site,” he told I-Team 8 in a 2004 interview.

No Money In Budget for VX Byproduct Storage

But now the hydrolysate will reside at Newport indefinitely until a final decision is made about disposal, and the money is not in the budget.

Andrews questioned Bolton on whether the cost would go up. Bolton said the cost would go up, but as to how much it would increase, he replied, “I don't know, because I don't believe the report.”

“You don't believe the report?” Andrews asked.

“I don't believe the report,” repeated Bolton.

Bolton claims the CDC didn't have all the data.

“If you think that their work product is deficient in some way, I think you should put your points on the record,” said Andrews to Bolton. “But we have a great deal of confidence in their work product,” Andrews said about the CDC report.

Senator Bayh has a great deal of confidence in the Army. He wants the destruction process to go forward.

“Let's get that under way and deal with some of these technical issues the CDC has raised, which the Army feels fairly confident can be resolved,” said Bayh.

“I fear that the way the Army is pursuing this right now is wrong for the people of Indiana, wrong for the people of New Jersey, and wrong for the taxpayers of the United States,” said Andrews.

A year ago, the Army said it didn't have room to store the hydrolysate at Newport.

In fact, the Army said Newport could store less than ten percent of the waste. Now the Army says it's prepared to store the caustic byproduct. But indefinite storage and regular inspection of the containers will have to be paid for with what the Army calls "funding challenges."

On 24 Hour News 8 at 11:00 pm, the I-Team 8 investigation continues. We'll show you how an elementary school in the "Red Zone" has prepared to deal with the "unlikely event" of an accident during the destruction process.

Project Security: Read I-Team 8's report