Nerve Agent Spills at Indiana Facility. Buzzflash: Someone accidentally tips ov

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5068956,00.html

 

Nerve Agent Spills at Indiana Facility

 

 

Sunday June 12, 2005 11:46 AM

 

NEWPORT, Ind. (AP) - About 30 gallons of a liquid containing a deadly

Cold War-era nerve agent spilled at an Indiana chemical weapons depot,

but it was safely contained in a sealed area and no one was injured,

the Army said Saturday.

 

The spill occurred Friday night at the Newport Chemical Agent

Destruction Facility, where more than 250,000 gallons of the agent VX

are stored. VX is a liquid with the consistency of mineral oil that

can kill a healthy adult with a single pinpoint droplet.

 

The spill happened during a process to destroy the nerve agent by

converting it into a caustic chemical called hydrolysate. The facility

has destroyed nearly 2,900 gallons of VX since the process started a

month ago, the Army said. The neutralization process is expected to

take more than two years.

 

Workers would try to determine what caused the valve to leak Friday

night and how to fix it, said Army spokeswoman Terry Arthur.

 

``No agent was released outside the containment area and there was no

danger to workers or to the community,'' the Army said.

 

Employees in protective gear were working Saturday to clean up any

surface that the liquid touched.

 

The Army wants to transport the hydrolysate - which has been compared

to liquid drain cleaner - to a DuPont plant in New Jersey for

treatment and disposal in the Delaware River. The plan has sparked

opposition in New Jersey and Delaware.