Nerve gas disposal a political dilemma
By BETH MILLER
Staff reporter
04/14/2004
NEWPORT, Ind. -- The military science is clear to the Army brass, who must destroy the United States' stockpile of VX nerve agent. Chemists at the DuPont Co. say their science is safe and their huge New Jersey treatment plant will make the wastewater a harmless addition to the Delaware River.
But the political science may prove the most volatile part of the equation. Elected officials must try to balance election-year pressures with environmental concerns, international treaties, national security, global economies, local business considerations and, especially, the well-being of their constituents and other living things.
"There's really no way to balance all the players and all the considerations," said Vicki Pegg, president of the Board of Montgomery (Ohio) County Commissioners, which dealt with the VX wastewater issue when the Army made a similar proposal with a Dayton company last year. "That's what a good elected official does - find the balance. But there's no such thing in this."
The Dayton area has a large military population, Pegg said, and like other jurisdictions, it needs tax revenue and a strong business climate. But a citizens group in Dayton raised concerns about the impact on the environment. They used petitions, marches, handwritten signs, civil-rights issues, the interest of local media and a constant presence at government and civic meetings throughout the county to defeat the Army's plan.
"They underestimated our will," said Willa Bronston, who lives about a mile from the Dayton plant. "We were about to take some training for nonviolent resistance - and if that meant lying down on the ground in front of driveways and in front of trucks, we were OK with it."
That kind of heat over a single issue in any election year can turn the tide for even the most seasoned politician.
But 2004 is an especially complicated election year. The issues in play include the war in Iraq, triggered in part by the threat of weapons of mass destruction. There is also the continuing struggle in Afghanistan and elsewhere against those who would use any means - including commercial airliners and suicide bombers and, potentially, chemical weapons - to attack the United States and its allies.
Election-year pressures could further jeopardize the Army's plan to ship the wastewater for treatment, because its stock of VX sits about 750 miles away from DuPont's plant, requiring passage through at least four states and scores of smaller jurisdictions.
Even if the wastewater is no more hazardous than a truckload of drain cleaner, as some chemists claim, the trip could be hazardous to the futures of many a politician along the way.
"I don't think VX will have any impact on the governor's race in Indiana or the president's race, but I just had a call from a guy on a board of a small [Indiana] town who is going to send in a resolution opposing the transportation of the waste," said C.W. Engelland, a retired professor of political science at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, 30 miles south of the Newport Chemical Depot.
As in any conflict, this one has elements of propaganda. The fact that the wastewater is a byproduct of VX is played down by the Army, which argues that by the time the process is complete, no VX will be present in the wastewater. The same fact is played up by opponents of the Army's plans, who say nobody has dealt with this kind of wastewater on such a scale before and therefore, no one really knows what will happen.
DuPont has tried to build trust in the science by publishing a 350-page report on its plant's Internet site, allowing people to judge for themselves if the company's plans are sound. After reviewing the report, Delaware environmental officials raised questions.
Trust becomes an issue
All sides of the debate have had some misfires.
The Army posted the first notice of its plan for the DuPont site in a small library in New Jersey in December. It then placed a legal notice in a small New Jersey paper, rather than choosing papers of wider circulation like The Camden (N.J.) Courier-Post or The News Journal. That prompted cries of subterfuge by those who believe the Army hoped to slip in the plan with little public interaction.
DuPont's report was interpreted by some to claim that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had approved the plan, a perception that was quickly disavowed by the CDC.
Opponents have sometimes claimed the Army wanted to ship VX itself instead of the wastewater created when VX is destroyed. Though the caustic wastewater is dangerous, it is not the lethal agent VX. That prompted Army officials to criticize as alarmist and misinformed the campaign to stop the VX disposal plan.
Where unanswered questions and confusion are present, trust is difficult. Where track records appear sound, it's easier.
In the Newport, Ind., area, some residents said they feel comfortable living near the plant and trust the Army's judgment. Many took part in Volksmarches and 4-H trail rides on the scenic 7,000-acre property that still is home to eagles, coyotes, deer, foxes and other wildlife. Sept. 11 changed that, forcing new security measures.
Its perimeter is constantly monitored, and deadly force is authorized against those who try to reach the VX stores, said the depot's commander, Lt. Col. Joseph Marquart.
"The Army has been up front with it all," said Becky Holbert, who lives in Dana, about six miles from the depot.
The trust of some locals has been rattled by a pair of false alarms, though. The first time, several years ago, the call came to evacuate because of a suspected VX incident. The second time, a few months ago, the message was to shelter-in-place, using the duct-tape and plastic-sheeting protective measures that homeland security officials have advocated. Marquart said the recent alarm was triggered by an emergency official's error.
Rick Bray, a volunteer firefighter with the Dana Volunteer Fire Company, said it was terrifying to people like his wife, who took their 2-year-old daughter to the room the Brays have for just such an emergency.
"If there's a VX emergency, we're involved," Bray said. "But the chances of something going wrong are so infinitesimal - and there's a lot scarier stuff on the road than hydrolysate [the wastewater]. ... The good news is, once we get rid of this stuff we'll never have to worry about it again. The end justifies some risk, and the risk here is infinitesimal."
Sara Morgan, a native of a town near Newport whose late father worked at the VX plant, got involved when the Army proposed to destroy the VX by incineration. She opposes the Army's new plan because of the 750-mile trip east.
"Why ship out something that could cause problems for somebody else?" she said. "That's not the way we were brought up out here. ... If it's not right for me, it's not right for anybody."
The risk of spilling the wastewater during shipment was of great interest to Denny Bristol, who coordinates emergency responses to hazardous material incidents in the region that includes Dayton. Bristol said he worried most about the long-term effects of a spill that reached waterways. He urged emergency officials in other jurisdictions to demand documentation of Army claims.
The Army hoped to use Perma-Fix of Dayton to treat the VX wastewater and dispose of it at the Montgomery County wastewater treatment plant.
Perma-Fix is located in the middle of a neighborhood - Drexel, a low-income community in Jefferson Township. Tank trucks going to and from Perma-Fix pass in front of many homes routinely, including Rose Campbell's. Campbell said smells from the plant have caused severe headaches and nausea. She was among those who strongly opposed the plan.
Residents organize
Jefferson Township had been through its share of battles before, with citizens groups successfully fighting proposals for two landfills. The VX wastewater plan was the last straw, group members said.
"This wasn't just going to affect Drexel or Jefferson Township," said one of the organizers, Laura Rench, who owns a Christmas tree farm in Jefferson Township. "Ultimately it was going to be dumped into the Great Miami River. What are the repercussions for fish and wildlife? For drinking water? Who draws from the river downstream? They'll be part of the experiment - and it is a big experiment."
Willa Bronston and Mary Johnson started attending every civic and governmental meeting they could to inform and voice their opposition to the plan.
Eventually, hundreds of people showed up for their meetings and marches. The county hired a chemical consultant and refused to issue a permit.
"We had all different types of people involved, from the super assertive to the angry radical to the rebel with a cause to the make-nice-nice-folks to the 'I'm black and I'm proud' to the 'save-the-children' to the 'what's-in-it-for-me,' " said Maddi Breslin of Dayton. "All managed to work together, to put aside petty differences to get to the goal. Some bailed, some got scared, some were never going to give up no matter what."
Engelland, the retired political science professor, predicts that finding a solution will be as tough now as it ever was.
"We've babysat that stuff for at least 50 years," Engelland said. "I think we're going to have to babysit the waste now."
If this happens It'll come by railroad they say, I want to try to find a group to form a human barricade and protest the hell out of it... Let em arrest everybody, it'll draw NATIONAL ATTENTION
