Posted on 02/16/2005 9:24:02 AM PST by Military family member
Army gives OK to VX destruction in Newport
Action will be 'one step closer' to destroying lethal nerve agent
By Patricia L. Pastore/Tribune-Star
Army officials gave the nod Monday to begin destruction of VX nerve agent this spring and to store the byproduct, hydrolysate, on-site at Newport, said Jeff Brubaker, government site project manager, on Tuesday. The plan is identical to one citizens have proposed to Army officials for more than three years: destroy the VX and store the hydrolysate there until a decision is made on how to treat and dispose of the resulting waste. One drop of VX the size of a BB can be lethal, the Army has said. The 1,269 tons of VX are stored at the Newport Chemical Depot Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, about 30 miles north of Terre Haute. Senior Army officials involved in the decision included: Claude Bolton, assistant secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology; Gen. Benjamin Griffin, commanding general, Army Material Command; Mike Parker, director, Chemical Materials Agency; and Col. Jesse Barber, project manager for Alternative Technologies and Approaches.
"The result was a decision to proceed with final planning leading up to the start of agent operations," Brubaker said. "This decision moves the Army one step closer to our mission to destroy the chemical agent stockpile stored here." The Army still has a few hoops to jump through before neutralization of the deadly nerve agent begins. Workers at the destruction facility must successfully complete a 45-day pre-operational demonstration in order to obtain final approval to begin agent destruction. "Additionally we will need to update current documentation for the National Environmental Policy Act to address the impacts of on-site storage of the caustic wastewater while we await a final decision on the waste product," Brubaker said. "And, we are required to notify Congress 30 days in advance of beginning destruction operations," he added.
Parsons, the Army's contractor for the disposal facility, will chemically neutralize the VX by mixing it with sodium hydroxide and water, Brubaker said. The resulting caustic wastewater product, hydrolysate, will be stored temporarily in containers on-site until final treatment and disposal is determined. "Final site security lockdown is schedule for next week," Brubaker said, adding that the final, 45-day pre-operational demonstration will begin then. Brubaker said there are sufficient containers on-site to store 200,000 gallons of hydrolysate, which would be the product of eight months of neutralization. He plans to obtain sufficient containers potentially to double the storage, he said. He anticipates destruction of the stockpile will be complete in 30 months. Last year, the work force at the chemical agent destruction facility was certified as ready to put their knowledge and training into practice.
The 45-day pre-operational demonstration recently was added as a requirement, Brubaker said. Brubaker, who has worked diligently to begin VX destruction, said he is pleased to announce that the end of a long process in near. "We are expending $9 million a month, $360,000 a day, at the depot," Brubaker said. "It just makes sense to move forward. The work force has shown it is focused on destroying the agent safely."
I sure hope there is good rent a cop on duty ...
just kidding.
But really ... I'm not to big on goverment survalince but if there was ever anything that needs to be watched , this is it for sure.
Makes you wonder who's bright idea it was to make that stuff in the first place.
Don't know, but I've been living with the largest stockpile of the stuff in the world essentially in my backyard for the last 20 years or so.
What's the big deal? It's no worse than any other weapon.
In fact, part of the problem has always been what to do with the biproducts of its destruction. The people in this area have been trying for years to get rid of it.
Assuming you could line everyone up and medically administer the proper dosage to each individual. Then again, you could say the same thing about our conventional arsenal.
In a real scenario, delivery is a great deal more problematic. It's most effective use is against defenseless civilians.
A few drops sprayed here and there would do the trick. I think a single drop would kill dozens, but I can't remember the specifics. I do know this doesn't have to be administered via shots...we're talking drops in the water supply--Newport is close to the Wabash River, which feeds the Ohio, then to the Mississippi--far fetched I know, but I've sat through emergency drills for VX. This is a serious WMD here, located within 30 miles or so of the population center of the United States. Security provided by the US Army.
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Sure...if you were able to divide up and administer that drop by the microgram to each individual. Fortunately it isn't even remotely possible to deliver it with that kind of precision with artillery or aircraft even when using it on unsuspecting and defenseless civilians.
Conventional ordinance will kill you just as dead and it's much easier to handle and use.
Didn't a group in Japan do something similar with Serin gas? This stuff is worse.
I live in a mostly rural community. I can think of hundreds of ways to spread the stuff using farm implements
Only if used in MASS quantities. You ought to be more worried about fertilizer bombs in crowded areas.
Less than five Gallons of VX would wipe out a major city...hardly mass quantities
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