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Chemical Weapons Disposal to Begin at Newport
The Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana will begin destroying its stockpile of VX nerve agent tomorrow, according to the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency (see GSN, May 3). The facility contains 4 percent of the U.S. chemical weapons stockpile. The nerve agent is contained only in steel containers. “During start-up, deliberate actions and thorough review of data will be conducted to verify performance before increasing production rates,” Army project manager Jeff Brubaker said in a press release. “Starting slowly and ramping up to normal destruction rates will help ensure the safety of the workers, the community and of the environment.” The Newport chemical weapons neutralization facility will be the seventh of nine planned U.S. disposal sites to begin work. Plants at Johnston Atoll and Aberdeen, Md., have already finished agent disposal, while work is under way at facilities in Utah, Alabama, Arkansas and Oregon. Construction has yet to begin on facilities in Colorado and Kentucky (U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency release, May 3). It is expected to take more than two years to destroy more than 250,000 gallons of VX stored at Newport, the Associated Press reported. An estimated 4 million gallons of wastewater created by neutralization will be stored at the site until a final disposal plan is approved (Associated Press/PhillyBurbs.com, May 3).
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