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Contract Dispute Threatens Work at Newport
Employees of the private operator of the U.S. Army’s Newport Chemical Depot are threatening to walk off the job because of a contract dispute over incentive pay, the Terre Haute, Ind., Tribune-Star reported Friday (see GSN, Nov. 1). The workers are responsible for operating and maintaining the Indiana plant in which VX nerve agent is destroyed, said Scott Rowden, environmental director for contractor Parsons Technologies. A walkout by 50 or more workers could halt weapons disposal, said Rick Rife, Parson’s project manager at the site. “If we don't have an adequate number of people, we can't operate,” he said. “If we don't have enough people to run safely, we won't run.” However, Col. Jesse Barber, project manager for the Army's Alternative Technologies and Approaches Project, said work at the site would continue without the Parsons workers. “If we lost 50 to 60 people we will consolidate the work force and go to a smaller crew,” he said. “We will go to a one-shift operation, which will allow us to continue destroying VX. It will not shut us down. I have a promise from my boss, Kevin Flamm, program manager for the Elimination of Chemical Weapons, that allows me to borrow workers from other sites to keep Newport going if we can't do it with the existing work force” (Patricia Pastore, Tribune-Star, Nov. 4).
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