Updated 06/20/2007 12:05:38 AM CDT

The U.S. Army agreed Tuesday to stop shipping nerve gas wastewater to a Port Arthur disposal facility until a ruling is made in an injunction hearing scheduled for the middle of July.

The Army stopped shipping the VX nerve gas byproduct Monday in response to a request from several citizen's groups. Those groups are suing the military and Veolia Environmental Services, the Port Arthur company contracted by the Army to dispose of the caustic water.

The extension of the shipping hiatus was the outcome of Tuesday's conference call among the opposing parties and U.S. District Judge Larry J. McKinney in Terre Haute, Ind., where the case is being heard.

"A teleconference today has resulted in the Army extending its good-faith, voluntary stay through the interim period leading up to the (preliminary injunction hearing,)" Army Public Affairs Officer Gregory J. Mahall said. "No more shipments will leave Newport (Ind.) until the matter is heard in court. As of now, that hearing is tentatively planned for the week of July 16 through 19, 2007."

A preliminary injunction hearing is a legal procedure that will determine if the Army can continue to ship the nerve gas wastewater while the case is being heard.

Craig Williams, director of Chemical Weapons Working Group, one of the groups suing the Army, said the decision was a validation of the lawsuit.

"If the judge took a look at the pleadings and said: 'This has no merits. I'm not going to listen to this,' he wouldn't have set a date," Williams said. "It reflects the fact the judge recognizes that there is substance to this complaint."

Tuesday's ruling also made the lawsuit an official court proceeding, giving the citizens' groups the right to subpoena documents and depose witnesses.

"We will be able to subpoena documents insiders have told us exist, but the Army is not being forthcoming in providing," Williams said.

In a press release, the Army maintained the process for shipping and disposing of the nerve gas waste water is safe.

"The Army reaffirms its belief that the shipments have been safe and protective of our workers, our communities and our environment," Mahall said.

Veolia Environmental Services general manager Mitch Osborne reaffirms the safety of the process.

"We believe the process was safe then, we believe it's safe now to our employees and the surrounding area," Osborne said. "We'll finish what we got in inventory, then wait and see what the court decides to do in mid-July."

The complainants in this case are Community In-Power Development Association, a Port Arthur-based environmental group; Citizens Against Incineration at Newport, an Indiana-based environmental group; and two national organizations, the Chemical Weapons Working Group and the Sierra Club.

These groups claim in their lawsuit that waste water could become VX nerve gas again under the correct conditions and that the interstate transport of such materials is against federal law.

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