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Chemical Weapons Working Group
PO Box 467  Berea, KY  40403
(859) 986-7565  fax:  (859) 986-2695
www.cwwg.org

Representative Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Chair
Congressional Black Caucus
2264 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515

August 24, 2007

Dear Rep. Kilpatrick and Members of the Congressional Black Caucus,

Four years after the U.S. invaded Iraq because of the perceived threat of chemical weapons to our nation, the U.S. Army is handling our own chemical weapons wastes in a manner that threatens the health and security of our own communities.  

We need your support to bring about a safe solution to a great environmental injustice being committed by the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency in its chemical weapons disposal program.

On April 16, 2007 the Army began shipping VX nerve agent liquid byproducts from its chemical weapons stockpile disposal facility in Newport, Indiana to Port Arthur, Texas to be incinerated.  Port Arthur is a community that is roughly 90% people of color, with more than half of the population low-income. Port Arthur is a community ravaged by toxic chemical exposure from oil refineries, chemical production plants and waste disposal facilities.  The addition of nerve agent-related wastes to this burden is unconscionable.

For the previous five years, communities and legislators in seven states – including the Newport, Indiana community – opposed shipment of the waste, instead advocating that the Army safely destroy the waste on-site as originally planned.  Ohio and New Jersey, first targeted to receive the waste, ultimately refused to accept the shipments based on environmental justice concerns and unanswered question about the toxicity of the waste.  But instead of doing the community and legislators’ bidding, the Army instead drew up a contract, in secret, with a waste incinerator company in Port Arthur and began the shipments with no opportunity for comment from citizens in Texas or anywhere along the transportation route, no adherence to the National Environmental Policy Act nor consideration of the Executive Order on Environmental Justice. 

The Army’s actions to secure this contract were in stark contrast to the open debates and public meetings that took place in Ohio and New Jersey.  Army CMA officials admitted that the change in approach was a “lesson learned;” that is, in order to push through its agenda the Army needed to keep the public in the dark.

To make matters worse, the Army admitted in court in July that the concentrations of nerve agent in this waste are much greater than they stated publicly.  The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) defines a chemical weapon as being destroyed only after it is treated in such a way as it cannot reform chemically by accident or by intent.  The VX byproduct being shipped to Texas is not considered  to be destroyed until after it is treated in Texas,  and is therefore still a chemical weapon according to the CWC.  Since U.S. law forbids interstate transportation of chemical weapons, the shipment of the VX byproduct, based on the treaty definition, is illegal.

What makes this particular situation unique is that the solution could be implemented so quickly.  In 2000, the Army agreed to use neutralization and a technology called Supercritical Water Oxidation (SCWO) to safely destroy the nerve agent stored in Indiana.  This two-phase destruction plan met the approval of local citizens and government – who had for years contested the Army’s more risky destruction technology ideas – and was also permitted by the State of Indiana.  In 2002, the Army also agreed to use the same technology for chemical weapons disposal in Kentucky, again with the full support from local citizens and elected officials at the local, state and national levels. 

The SCWO technology has the capability to break apart the chemical bonds of any residual nerve agent and other toxics; capture any heavy metals; and avoid the uncontrolled release of toxics into the environment.  Some benign waste would have to be shipped off-site at the end of the SCWO process, but the amount and toxicity of this waste pales in comparison to the Army’s current plan.  Several other non-incineration treatment technologies could be used in Indiana to aid in safe disposal of the waste.

We respectfully ask that you promote environmental justice by supporting safe disposal of the Army’s nerve agent wastes.  No community should have to suffer from toxic exposures when a solution can so easily be implemented.  It is imperative that we support safe alternatives and clear solutions when they exist.

Please investigate the Army’s lack of compliance with the agency requirements under the Executive Order on Environmental Justice in its shipment of nerve agent wastes to Texas.  We look forward to hearing from you soon, and will also be contacting you again following the summer break.

Sincerely,

Craig Williams, Director
Chemical Weapons Working Group

And on behalf of:

Hilton Kelley, Director Community In-Power Development Association, Inc.  Port Arthur, TX
Neil J. Carman, Clean Air Program Director  Lone Star Chapter of Sierra Club, Austin, TX
Geoffrey Castro, Director Citizens League for Environmental Action Now, Houston, TX