PAnews.com, Port Arthur, Texas

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September 25, 2008

Court dismisses VX lawsuit against Veolia

By David Ball

PORT ARTHUR — Hilton Kelley, chairman of Community In-power Development Association, or CIDA, called a recent court ruling “appalling” and “unfair.”

A federal court in Indianapolis, Ind. on Monday, Sept. 22 dismissed a lawsuit to stop the U.S. Army’s process of handling and incinerating wastewater generated from the destruction of VX nerve agent, according to a press release from Veolia Environmental Services.

The material, formerly stored at a U.S. Army chemical depot near Newport, Ind. is in its final shipments to the Veolia incinerator in Port Arthur for destruction.

“It’s pretty sad this isn’t important enough to the court system to stop the toxic waste in our area. We’re inundated with toxic waste,” Kelley said. “Veolia destroyed most of the VX waste, but we’ll look for the next shipment and be vigilant to protect the people of Southeast Texas.”

The 76-page decision by U.S. District Judge Larry J. McKinney brings to a close a 17-month old lawsuit brought by the Sierra Club and other groups and individuals from Texas and Indiana. The lawsuit had been filed against the Army and Veolia which had been selected by the government to transport and incinerate VX.

“From the beginning of this project, we have taken all the necessary precautions to ship, handle and incinerate these materials in a safe manner,” Greig Siedor, chief legal officer Veolia said. “This judgment supports those efforts and dispels the notion that incineration cannot properly and safely destroy these materials without affecting our employees, the community or the environment.”

Mitch Osborne, manager of the Veolia incinerator in Port Arthur, said the ruling was further validation the company has taken the necessary precautions since April 2007 in safely transporting the material from Indiana to Texas.

He added the Newport facility is scheduled to be demolished later this year and the Army hasn’t requested Veolia’s services recently for further incinerations.

Osborne anticipates maybe three more shipments of VX before the project is ended in early October. The plant is still without power and the incineration will be delayed until the electricity is restored.

In his ruling, McKinney held the plaintiffs had provided “no evidence of a material issue of fact that Defendants’ production, storage, transport and incineration of (hydrolysate) create an imminent and substantial endangerment to the environment.”



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