Not in my backyard bunker

Here’s the problem with the most deadly chemical ever invented: Once it’s been created, you need somewhere to store it, and no one wants it in their own backyard. But if you’re from Newport, Ind., you don’t have much of a choice. Approximately 30 miles north of Terre Haute, the U.S. Army is chemically neutralizing some 70,000 gallons of VX nerve gas so it can be transported to Port Arthur, Texas, for final incineration. \nBritish researchers synthesized VX in the 1950s. It is an odorless, tasteless nerve agent used in chemical weapons, and according to the CDC is even more deadly than sarin gas. The level of poisoning is related to the amount, concentration and length of exposure, but even low to moderate dosages cause blurred vision, drooling, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. The full list is much longer, but you get the point. Overexposure will cause convulsions, paralysis and eventually death by respiratory failure. Pretty gruesome, don’t you think?\nWhy, then, would you want to leave it sitting around? The right thing to do, the only thing to do, is dispose of it as quickly and as safely as possible. \nBut there’s a catch. By neutralizing the VX agent, you create hydrolysate wastewater (EA2192) – about 2 million gallons’ worth in the Newport Chemical Depot alone. Environmentalists from the Chemical Weapons Working Group and the Sierra Club contend that the wastewater byproduct still contains trace amounts of VX and therefore poses “an imminent and substantial endangerment” to public health. An Army spokesperson claimed that the neutralized VX is no more dangerous than Drano but confirmed that transport was voluntarily ceased until a judge could rule whether the Army is in violation of hazardous waste regulations.\nThe decision to ship the neutralized VX to Texas was made after strong opposition to moving the wastewater to Dayton, Ohio, or Deepwater, N.J., the country’s only other two facilities with proper disposal capabilities. It seems as if everyone would be happier just leaving the VX where it is, locked in the same massive steel storage tanks that it’s been in since 1968. Unfortunately, that’s no longer good enough. Since Sept. 11, the potential for catastrophe has increased exponentially, and massive stockpiles of chemical weapons-grade toxins are an appealing target. Even secured in underground bunkers, the only safe VX is neutralized VX. \nUnless the environmentalists are ready to pony up the cash for an incineration facility in Newport, and at each of the other chemical depots stationed around the country, they cannot stand in the way any longer. The option was available to transport the hydrolysate wastewater 170 miles to Dayton instead of 900 miles to Texas, but the protestors refused it. So now we’re stuck with 300 truckloads of VX agent, and we have nothing to do with it and nowhere to put it. We need pragmatic solutions, not unreasonable paranoia and bull-headed protests, because we don’t want chemically active VX nerve agent in our backyard either.