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Blue Grass CW Waste Transport Plan Opposed
A U.S. Defense Department group studying the potential shipping of waste products from chemical weapons destruction at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky has come out against the plan, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported yesterday (see GSN, May 23). The plan was being considered to cut costs for a $2 billion neutralization plant at the facility, according to the Herald-Leader. Destruction of the 523 tons of nerve and blister agents at the plant is expected to create 6 million gallons of hydrolysate waste. This substance would then be broken down by supercritical water oxidation, the Herald-Leader reported. The study group determined that under ideal conditions, up to $60 million could be saved by shipping the waste to an out-of-state site rather than conducting water oxidation at the depot. However, public opposition, necessary regulatory changes and the purchase of more sensitive detection equipment could offset the savings. Under worst circumstances, transporting the waste product could cost more than keeping it at Blue Grass, the team found. “We didn’t feel it was a good gamble, and that’s what it came down to,” said Jim Richmond, risk management team leader for Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives. The Defense Department has final say on the matter (Peter Mathews, Lexington Herald-Leader, Sept. 13).
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