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Army stops VX shipments

June 20, 2007 05:39 PM

The Army has stopped shipping nerve agent waste from Newport, Indiana to Texas.

Environmental groups are asking a federal judge to block the shipments of VX waste through eight states, calling it a danger to public health and the environment.

Trucks carrying 4000 gallons of wastewater travel 980 miles to Texas. From Indiana, the toxic cargo goes west on I-70 across Illinois to St. Louis. Then it travels south on I-55 through Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. After that, it goes west on I-10 into Texas.

The Army started shipping the waste about nine months ago from the VX incinerator at the Newport Chemical Depot.

So far, about 25 percent of the liquid by-product has been shipped to Texas.

The judge will hear arguments in the lawsuit on July 16th.