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TRANSPORTING VX HYDROLYSATE ACROSS STATE LINES IS ILLEGAL!

The United States Army has been breaking a federal law that explicitly forbids the interstate transportation of VX Hydrolysate (VXH).  The following explains why.

The U.S. is party to the international Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) treaty that requires all parties to destroy all their chemical weapons (munitions/agent) and former production facilities. Newport, Indiana had both VX agent and production facilities. The production facilities are destroyed and destruction of the VX agent is underway.

Being party to the CWC treaty requires adherence to the regulations and definitions contained in the treaty and obligates the U.S. to play by the CWC rules – all of the rules

The CWC defines chemical weapons as “Toxic chemicals and their precursors, except where intended for purposes not prohibited under this Convention, as long as the types and quantities are consistent with such purposes.”  VXH contains three such precursors: MPA, EMPA and thiolimine.

The CWC defines a toxic chemical as “Any chemical, which through its chemical action on life processes can cause death, temporary incapacitation or permanent harm to humans or animals. This includes all such chemicals, regardless of their origin or of their method of production, and regardless of whether they are produced in facilities, in munitions or elsewhere.”

Since VX is the most deadly chemical agent in the U.S. stockpile, it’s obviously covered under the treaty, and therefore it MUST be destroyed. But what does destroyed mean?

According to the CWC, “Destruction of chemical weapons means a process by which chemicals are converted in an essentially irreversible way to a form unsuitable for production of chemical weapons, and which in an irreversible manner renders munitions and other devices unusable as such.” Simple enough: you have to treat the agent in a manner that it can’t reform, either by accident or by intent. 

Is it possible for the VXH being shipped to Port Arthur, TX from Newport to reform?  Yes. The National Research Council has confirmed that VXH can reform to VX simply by dropping the pH.  Furthermore, according to the Centers for Disease Control, VX can concentrate at higher levels in the organic layer of the Hydrolysate even without the pH dropping.  This is hardly an “irreversible” conversion of VX.

The question then is this: Is the material the Army was/will be shipping to Port Arthur “destroyed” under the definition within the CWC or not?   If it were recognized as being destroyed under the treaty, CWC inspectors, who monitor the disposal activities of all countries party to the treaty, would give the U.S. credit for destruction once it is neutralized at Newport and before it is shipped off-site.

The fact is the CWC DOES NOT give credit for the VX being destroyed until AFTER it is unloaded at the Veolia incinerator in Texas. Therefore, the material being transported from Newport, across eight states to Port Arthur IS, by definition, a CHEMICAL WEAPON. There is no wiggle room here, no other interpretation. The VX is not destroyed under the treaty and thus it is still a chemical weapon.

Why is that important?  In 1994 the U.S. Congress passed a law—Public Law 103-337—and part of that law reads, “TRANSPORTATION OF CHEMICAL MUNITIONS. -  (a) PROHIBITION OF TRANSPORTATION ACROSS STATE LINES. -  The Secretary of Defense may not transport any chemical munition that constitutes part of the chemical weapons stockpile out of the State in which that munition is located on the date of the enactment of the Act and, in the case of any such chemical munition not located in a State on the date of the enactment of this Act, not transport any such munition into a State.” (Munition: military supplies such as weapons and ammunition.)

The citizens and organizations trying to prevent the shipment of the VXH from Newport believe that, based on the above information, the transportation of this material across state lines is illegal under U.S. federal law.
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