U.S. Water News Online
DOVER, Del. -- The governors of Delaware and New Jersey said wastewater from the destruction of a deadly nerve agent should be treated in Indiana, not at a DuPont facility along the Delaware River.
Govs. Ruth Ann Minner of Delaware and James McGreevey of New Jersey stopped short of saying they would fight DuPont's plan to treat up to 4 million gallons of hydrolysate, a caustic wastewater, left over from the planned destruction of more than 1,200 tons of the nerve agent VX at the Army's Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana.
But the governors said the Army and its contractors should reconsider the plan to treat the hydrolysate at DuPont's Secure Environmental Treatment facility in Deepwater, N.J.
``We believe that it is in the best interests of the citizens and natural resources of the states of Delaware and New Jersey that the ultimate compliance with the requirements of the Chemical Weapons Convention takes place in close proximity to the Newport, Indiana, depot,'' Minner and McGreevey said in a letter to be sent to acting Army Secretary Les Brownlee.
``The governor has been an outspoken critic of this placement from day one, and he is convinced it's a bad idea,'' said McGreevey spokesman Micah Rasmussen. ``VX and the Delaware do not go together.''
Minner said she is opposed to the plan as currently presented but would be willing to consider any changes or additional information presented by DuPont.
``We have a great deal of concern,'' she said.
Jeff Lindblad, a spokesman for the Army Chemical Materials Agency, said military officials would review the letter and respond to the issues raised by state officials.
Officials released a copy of the letter shortly before the Delaware House of Representatives passed a resolution expressing the General Assembly's opposition to the DuPont plan. The nonbinding resolution was approved by the state Senate last month.
``The question is, is DuPont going to listen?'' said John Kearney, director of the Delaware Clean Air Council and an outspoken critic of the plan.
The primary concern of state officials involves two compounds in the wastewater, ethyl-methyl phosphonic acid and methyl phosphonic acid, which would be dumped into the Delaware River virtually untreated at the rate of more than two tons per day.
State officials say the two compounds are identified in the Chemical Weapons Convention as posing significant risk, and that simply diluting the acids before effluent is dumped into the river is ``inappropriate.''
``There is little, if any, published information about the environmental effects of these organic acids, and we are concerned about using the Delaware River and Bay as the testing grounds,'' the governors wrote.
In addition to potential stimulation of algal blooms from additional phosphorous in the bay, state regulators are concerned about the risks of transporting the hydrolysate from Indiana to the East Coast, and about residual VX in the wastewater, which could be present in amounts shown to be lethal to striped bass.
John Hughes, secretary of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, said DuPont has admitted that the SET facility does not have the capability to fully treat the phosphonic acids. But simply diluting the chemicals before dumping them into the river and claiming there will be no harm to the environment is not acceptable, he said.
``I think DuPont was uncharacteristically unconservative in their estimates,'' said Hughes, adding that DNREC officials worked hard to resist what he called ``a rush to judgment.''
``There has not been any deception that I've uncovered,'' Hughes added. ``There's been optimism, which we can't afford in this business.''
Earlier, DuPont announced that it would not accept an Army contract for the project until the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention completes a formal review. That review was requested last month by the congressional delegations of Delaware and New Jersey.
DuPont officials, who previously issued assurances that the project poses no significant risk to the environment or public health, also said they would address specific questions raised by Delaware and New Jersey regulators and would seek an independent review that could include studying the effluent to be dumped into river.
DuPont officials suggested that the independent study of the effluent could involve a baseline assessment of the river before the project begins and regular monitoring afterward.
``While we are confident in our science, we also understand that the community and regulatory agencies have concerns and we want to address them,'' said Nick Fanandakis, vice president and general manager of DuPont Chemical Solutions Enterprise.
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