Sides debate deadly VX

Groups seek to stop shipment of nerve agent through Memphis

By Bartholomew Sullivan
sullivanb@shns.com
July 16, 2007

WASHINGTON -- A federal judge in Indianapolis will hear arguments today in a case that could stop the U.S. Army's shipment through Memphis of a hazardous and corrosive byproduct of neutralized VX nerve agent.

The Sierra Club and the Chemical Weapons Working Group, a Kentucky-based environmental activist organization devoted to the safe elimination of chemical weapons, are seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the shipments from Newport, Ind., to an incinerator at an environmental services company in Port Arthur, Texas. VX nerve agent is the most lethal poison in the U.S. military arsenal, even more dangerous than sarin. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for dealing with VX exposure put it simply: "It is possible that any visible VX liquid contact on the skin, unless washed off immediately, would be lethal."

The Army, in its legal brief, says that no discernable VX above 20 parts per billion is in the neutralized substance known as hydrolysate. It also points out that 368,504 gallons of the substance, in 101 tanker trucks, safely made the journey to Veolia Environmental Services in Texas earlier this year before the injunction was sought. The Army estimates it will need to transport 1.8 million gallons to eliminate the entire VX stockpile at Newport. That's another 330 truckloads. Then Newport will be mothballed.

Both sides in the legal dispute say the public's interest is on their side. The environmentalists and the Army all agree that getting rid of chemical weapons is a good thing. The issue is the safety with which it's accomplished.

"Citizens are completely in the dark about this," said Fred Millar, one of the expert witnesses used by the plaintiffs who was also active in trying to persuade the Memphis City Council to pass an ordinance earlier this year to have hazardous railcars bypass the city.

VX itself -- not the hydrolysate -- "has been identified as the most lethal (chemical) agent on the planet," said Chemical Weapons Working Group founder and director Craig Williams.

In 1985, the U.S. Congress passed a law requiring the Army to destroy obsolete chemical weapons. Eight years later, the U.S. signed the Chemical Weapons Convention and agreed to destroy its entire stockpile by April of this year. The deadline has since been extended to 2012.

Shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, the Army proposed to accelerate its neutralization of VX to assure it couldn't become the target for terrorists, and in May 2005 the 1,269 tons of the odorless liquid with the viscosity of transmission fluid began to get neutralized.

The environmentalists contend that the neutralization process does not render the substance safe enough for transport over the highways and would like the remaining hydrolysate destroyed in Indiana and not by incineration. They say that after the neutralization process, some VX reforms during storage within the tanks. They also claim that the Army is transporting chemical weapons across state lines in violation of federal law.

The Army counters that it has tested stored hydrolysate containers and that VX levels remain below what chemists can detect.

U.S. Dist. Judge Larry J. McKinney has scheduled a two-day hearing to sort out the issues.

There's no question that hydrolysate is dangerous stuff. It's categorized as a hazardous waste and the trucks hauling it have identifying placards and specially trained drivers. Local law enforcement authorities are notified before it comes through, although in Memphis, the public is not informed.

"They notify us but, so far as discussing what the protocol is with local law enforcement and what the protocol is with hazardous materials transport from the federal government, they don't allow us to discuss it with anyone," said Memphis Police spokesman Sgt. Vince Higgins.

Washington correspondent Bartholomew Sullivan can be reached at (202) 408-2726.

More info:

VX nerve agent

VX is an organophosphate poison designed in Britain in the 1950s for use in chemical warfare.

There is some suspicion it was used in the war between Iran and Iraq in the 1980s.

It is an oily, colorless and odorless liquid with the consistency of transmission fluid.

Exposure to it can lead to muscle twitching, convulsions, paralysis and respiratory failure leading to death.

Source: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.