NEWPORT CHEMICAL DEPOT, Ind. - Workers at the Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility have safely neutralized 90 percent of the VX stored at the Newport Chemical Depot.
The depot reached the 90-percent destruction milestone May 7.
"I am proud of each member of the Newport team. Employees here are leaders of strong safety practices and will continue to be until all operations are complete," said depot Commander Lt. Col. Brian Lynch.
According to the NECDF Site Project Manager Jeff Brubaker, "We are predicting agent neutralization operations to be completed by summer's end. Reaching the safe destruction of 90 percent of the stockpile makes us realize just how close we are to completing our project mission. The Newport team should be very proud of the work they are performing in order to make our nation safer."
Workers began destroying the Newport VX stockpile utilizing neutralization technology May 5, 2005.
Once agent neutralization operations are completed, the site will focus efforts on thorough decontamination of the equipment and demolition of the buildings used for agent neutralization operations.
It is anticipated that this stage of the project will take approximately 18 to 24 months to complete.
The Chemical Weapons Convention Treaty mandates completion of agent destruction by April 2012.
Newport is one of the five active chemical agent storage and destruction sites managed by the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency. For nearly 40 years, the Newport work force has safely stored more than 1000 tons of liquid chemical agent.
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