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Introduction

    Report for Congress: Review of the U.S. Army Proposal for Off-Site Treatment and Disposal of Caustic VX Hydrolysate From the Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility

    Introduction

    The U.S. Army proposal for CVXH waste transportation, treatment, and discharge of treated material into the Delaware River has raised concerns and questions about potential impacts on public health and the environment. In a March 29, 2004, letter to the CDC, the four U.S. Senators from New Jersey and Delaware, along with four members of Congress (two from each State) requested that CDC formally review the proposal for off-site treatment of CVXH to determine “if there are public health risks involved with the Army’s proposal.” Additionally, the Governors and environmental protection officials of the affected States (Delaware and New Jersey) have publicly expressed concerns about the proposal.

    This evaluation was conducted in response to a request from several senators and members of Congress. Public Laws 99-145 (1986), and 91-121 (1970), as amended by 91-441 (1971) (50 U.S.C. 1521 and 1512) require the Department of Defense to obtain public health review and oversight by the Department of Health and Human Services of plans for the testing, transportation, and disposal of lethal chemical weapons. This function was delegated to CDC from the Office of the Surgeon General in 1981. CDC’s public health oversight role usually ends when the lethal chemical warfare materials are destroyed, generally meaning that they have been reduced to hazardous waste that potentially contain only trace levels of chemical warfare agent. At that time the oversight responsibility falls under existing transportation and environmental disposal regulations. With respect to this specific proposal, however, CDC evaluated the off-site disposal plan pursuant to the congressional request, despite initial Army process information suggesting the waste would no longer contain detectable VX. This decision to conduct the evaluation was documented in a CDC letter to Congress dated April 16, 2004. CDC’s review of NECDF process safety is not within the scope of this report; however, process safety at NECDF is reviewed by CDC as part of its routine oversight of chemical warfare agent disposal activities.

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