Published: March 09, 2009 11:54 pm         

Newport Chemical Depot cleaning materials that may have come in contact with VX

All of the VX is gone, but now the Newport Chemical Depot in Vermillion County is working to clean up materials that may have come into contact with either the nerve agent or the solution that resulted when it was converted into a transportable liquid.

As part of the final chapter in the history of the chemical weapons storage facility, officials at Newport have asked the State of Indiana for a permit to operate a big, hot air dryer that will evaporate any liquids that might remain on things such as valves or personal safety suits, Newport officials said Monday.

Once the items are dried, they will be packed in 55-gallon, lined drums, said Jeff Brubaker, a civilian employee of the U.S. Army and site manager at the Chemical Depot. “One of the requirements prior to shipment is to verify that there is no free liquids within the drums,” he said, adding that there are expected to be around 100 drums filled with dried materials.

After being dried, the materials in the drums will be shipped to Port Arthur, Texas, for final destruction, he said.

Exhaust from the all-electric hot air drier, which is around the size of a commercial bread oven, will be “scrubbed” in carbon filters six times before being released into the atmosphere, Brubaker said.

“The air that is exhausted passes through a carbon bed … that will trap any organic material to include potential for VX,” he said. The exhaust air is also monitored for VX, he added.

As part of the permit process, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management is seeking public comment on the request for the drier. Copies of the permit request are available at the Newport Chemical Stockpile Outreach Office, 306 S. Main St., Clinton, the Clinton Public Library and at IDEM in Indianapolis. A public meeting on the request will take place at 6 p.m. March 18 at the Clinton Public Library at Fourth and Blackman streets in Clinton.

Officials at Newport started destroying the VX in 2005. The last of the agent, after being neutralized and converted into a caustic wastewater solution, similar to drain cleaner, was incinerated at the Port Arthur facility in November, Brubaker said. In all, around 2.5 million pounds of VX from the Newport facility was destroyed.

If all goes well, IDEM could issue a permit for use of the hot air dryer as early as this spring. The drying process may take fewer than three months, Newport officials said.

Last July, around 1,000 people worked at the Newport facility. Today, about 700 people, most of whom are contract workers, remain employed there. The number of employees is expected to continue to fall to around 80 by summer 2010, said Terry Arthur, media and public liaison for the facility.

The Newport Chemical Depot stockpiled the deadly VX nerve agent for more than four decades. The agent, considered the most toxic nerve agent ever made, was produced at the facility from 1961 until 1968. At its peak, the facility covered nearly 22,000 acres.

Today, it covers less than 7,000 acres, most of which is leased farmland, forest, prairie grass or wetlands. The VX disposal facility that remains occupies only around 15 acres.

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.