Army Delays Start of Chemical Destruction in Indiana Pending Wastewater Treatment Tests

The U.S. Army is waiting for DuPont scientists to complete their evaluation of wastewater treatment methods before proceeding with the planned destruction of VX nerve agent at the Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Indiana, Defense Environment Alert reported this month (see GSN, Jan. 13).

The tests are delaying a report — expected last summer — by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the plan to treat the wastewater created by VX neutralization at a DuPont facility in New Jersey, according to regulatory and industry sources. 

The agency’s findings are expected to determine whether the Army is allowed to proceed with the plan. Every day of delay costs about $360,000 to operate the Newport facility, said an Army spokesman.

The study is ongoing and there is no schedule for completion, according to a DuPont source.

The CDC is waiting for the results before it issues its report, according to an official at the Delaware River Basin Commission, an interstate regulatory organization, and another DuPont source.

A CDC spokeswoman would only say that the report was “in clearance,” Defense Environment Alert reported (Defense Environment Alert, Jan. 11).

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