Army To Send Nerve Agent To Maryland
Army Plans To Test VX Destruction Process
POSTED: 10:04 a.m. EST March 24, 2004
NEWPORT, Ind. -- The Army has announced that they will send samples of the nerve agent VX to laboratories in Illinois and Maryland.
It wants to test the process it plans to use to destroy the deadly material. The tests will determine if the wastewater resulting from its destruction is safe to transport from Indiana to a final disposal site in New Jersey.
Technicians will extract samples of VX from its carbon steel containers, and the samples will be packaged and escorted to the Army labs in Edgewood, Md., and Illinois.
The VX will be neutralized there and the byproduct will be tested.
The resulting chemical would be hydrolysate, which scientists compare to liquid drain cleaner.
If the tests are successful, the army plans to ship neutralized VX to DuPont's Secure Environmental Treatment facility in Deepwater, N.J., located along the Delaware River. DuPont would break down the wastewater and dump what's left into the river
Copyright 2004 by nbc4.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.







