Work Resumes at Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Site

The U.S. Army’s Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Indiana has resumed disposing of VX nerve agent after a wastewater spill stopped work last week, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 16).

Facility spokeswoman Terry Arthur said one of the two agent neutralization reactors was restarted Friday. 

The second reactor was undergoing repairs yesterday. The March 14 spill of 300 gallons of wastewater occurred when a plug on that reactor became dislodged.

The second reactor was expected to come back online today, Arthur said.

The spill last week was the fourth since contractor Parsons Technology started processing the nerve agent in May 2005, according to AP.

As of Tuesday, the facility had eliminated 35,012 gallons of VX, roughly 14 percent of the 250,000 gallons stored at the Newport Chemical Depot, according to the Army. Weapons processing is expected to create between 2 and 4 million gallons of waste (Associated Press/PhillyBurbs.com, March 22).

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