New Jersey Attempts to Prevent VX Waste Shipments

The New Jersey Environmental Protection Department on Friday issued a draft permit to block a DuPont facility from processing wastewater from chemical weapons neutralization at the Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, May 17).

Acting Governor Richard Codey ordered the prohibition, based on concerns about toxins that might remain when the processed hydrolysate is dumped into the Delaware River. The shipment of the wastewater through New Jersey to the plant is also a concern, Codey said in a letter to the secretary of the Army.

“New Jersey continues to oppose the United States Army's proposal to transport nerve agent waste from the Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana to DuPont’s Chambers Works environmental treatment facility in New Jersey,” Codey said in a written statement.

DuPont representative Anthony Farina said the company is pursuing a separate agreement to allow it to treat the material.

“We are in agreement that this project should not move forward until the concerns are addressed to everyone’s satisfaction,” said Farina.

He added that the plant just finished treating 4 million gallons of neutralized mustard gas from Aberdeen, Md. (Rebecca Santana, Associated Press/1010wins.com, May 20).

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