E.P.A. OK's Plan to Dump Nerve Agent Into Delaware River

[Guest guest]

S

Sun, 26 Feb 2006 10:13:30 -0800 (PST)

E.P.A. OK's Plan to Dump Nerve Agent Into Delaware River

 

 

 

(What is the fine for an individual person to dump a quart of

industrial class waste into the local water? Could be big money for

the citizen. But Big Bussiness polutes at will with government help.)

 

 

 

EPA OK'd plan to dump nerve agent into Delaware River

 

By HARRY YANOSHAK

Bucks County Courier Times

 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency won't oppose the U.S.

Department of Defense and DuPont Co.'s plan to dump a wastewater

byproduct of a deadly nerve agent into the Delaware River.

 

The agency said it's assured of a safe treatment for up to 4 million

gallons of caustic wastewater created in the treatment for VX, a

chemical weapon with a pinhead-size potency to kill a human. DuPont is

treating VX for disposal at its Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana.

 

The agent, once neutralized, would be shipped to DuPont's Chambers

Works plant in Deepwater, N.J., for discharge into the river.

" EPA believes that all of our previously identified ecological

concerns have been resolved, " said Walter Mugdan, director of the

agency's Environmental Planning and Protection division in New York,

in a letter released Friday to CNN and obtained by The News Journal in

Wilmington, Del.

 

The agency's position angers opponents of the disposal plan. They're

concerned the wastewater would harm the Delaware, which supplies

drinking water to millions. Furthermore, opponents say the EPA's

opinion is premature and raises more questions about the wastewater's

effects on river health.

 

The EPA forwarded its findings to the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, where analysts are considering health risks posed by the

Army and DuPont's plan. A final report from the CDC is expected to go

to the region's congressional delegations in April. An earlier study

by the agency was inconclusive as to the health effects of the discharge.

 

Tracy Carluccio, a spokeswoman for the Delaware Riverkeeper based in

Washington Crossing, criticized the EPA for its action.

" This report [by the EPA] is not conclusive in any way, " she said

Saturday.

 

Leaking the report " interrupted the normal procedures, " and injected

the EPA's bias into what was supposed to be an independent review of

the data. She's concerned the EPA's publicized opinion in favor of the

disposal plan would unduly prejudice any independent review of the

data for the CDC.

 

" It's important from a scientific point of view is that the cumulative

impact of all of these chemicals is known before you start

discharging, " she said.

 

Maya van Rossum, who heads Delaware Riverkeeper, also was critical.

" Its premature release smacks of strong-arm politics to push the

Army's and the present [bush] Administration's biased agenda. "

Delaware Riverkeeper bills itself as " vigilant protectors and

defenders of the river. "

 

Delaware and New Jersey opposed an earlier version of the plan, which

involved the discharge of treated waste into the Delaware from

DuPont's Chambers Works plant in Deepwater, N.J. Government officials

in both states have said they're concerned that traces of VX and other

toxic byproducts would reach the river even after treatment.

 

Although the EPA found DuPont had proven the discharge would meet

federal limits on toxic pollutants, the agency recommended additional

work, including studies of fish and other aquatic life before

treatment begins. The EPA, New Jersey, DuPont and the Delaware River

Basin Commission would collaborate in those studies.

 

More than 250,000 gallons of VX stored at Indiana are being chemically

neutralized. The process creates a wastewater called hydrolysate.

About 11 percent of the government's VX stockpile has been neutralized.

 

The hydrolysate, which the Army has compared to liquid drain cleaner,

is being stored in mobile containers until the government decides how

to dispose of it.

 

John A. Hughes, secretary of Delaware's Department of Natural

Resources and Environmental Control, said he wasn't shocked by the

agency's decision, but needs to review the evidence behind it.

" We did say early on that it's going to take new technology to make

the VX treatment acceptable. The treatment level of the original plan

was much too low, " Hughes said.

 

The Delaware agency raised questions about DuPont's original proposal,

eventually prompting the company to develop a new treatment step that

would prevent toxic leftovers in the wastewater from escaping into the

river.

 

Also of concern in Bucks County was the Army's plan to possibly ship

the chemical by train through the Morrisville rail yard en route to

DuPont's Deepwater plant.

 

Anthony Farina, a spokesman for DuPont, said the company was aware of

the EPA's opinion and has yet to review details.

 

" Certainly we've been working very closely with the EPA in addressing

their concerns, " Farina said. " We look forward to seeing the final

report when it's completed and released. "

 

DuPont in mid-2004 said the company could make $13.5 million annually

during the two- to three-year treatment process. Details of the

contract or government payments to DuPont during preparations for the

work were unavailable.

 

Brendan Gilfillan, a spokesman for New Jersey's governor, said Jon S.

Corzine remains concerned about the proposal.

 

" We're still very interested in seeing the result of the CDC's study

of the human impact, " Gilfillan said.

 

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-02262006-618484.html