By Ashley Sanders

The News staff writer

The city of Port Arthur has become synonymous for chemicals — petrochemicals, pesticides and polyethylene just to name a few. But it is a new chemical that is heading to the “City by the Sea” that has stirred up local controversy.

Veolia Environmental Services, located on TX 73 just west of Taylor’s Bayou, recently secured a $49 million contract with the U.S. Army to provide incineration services for nerve gas wastewater currently stored at the Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Newport, Ind.

“What the Army does in Indiana is break down the nerve agent VX,” Mitch Osborne, general manager for Veolia’s Port Arthur incinerator, said in an interview Wednesday. “The chemical can not reform after it is destroyed and what we will be receiving at our site is the caustic wastewater (hydrolysate).”

According to Osborne, the VX agent is mixed with hot sodium hydroxide and water at the Indiana facility to completely destroy any toxic materials. The U.S. Army has been destroying the nerve gas since 2005 under the treaty obligations of the international Chemical Weapons Convention. The Army has not produced any new nerve gas since the late 1960s, and is currently stockpiling the wastewater produced in the VX destruction process at their Indiana site.

“What will be shipped to Port Arthur is only a moderate hazard,” Osborne said. “The wastewater contains absolutely no VX. It has a high pH and an odor like a skunk because of the sulfur. But the odor is harmless.”

“This wastewater has none of the chemical, physical or toxic characteristics of the agent being destroyed in Newport,” Osborne added. “It differs very little from the wide variety of hazardous wastes managed safely at the Veolia incinerator on a daily basis.”

But a local community watchdog group wants to know why Port Arthur was selected for the final incinerator job if the waste water poses no physical threat.

In a statement, Hilton Kelley, the director of Port Arthur's Community In-Power Development Association, said his group will fight the Army's plan, which he called “a classic case of environmental injustice.”

“Southeast Texas should not be the dumping ground for waste that no one else is willing to take,” said Kelley, who lives in Port Arthur. “If it's not good for the community from which it came then it's not good for our communities in Texas.”

Osborne explained that there are very few commercial incinerators left in the U.S. and that his company was delighted to be selected for the project by the Army.

Two local officials said they support Osborne and Veolia in their efforts to bring additional financial resources not only to their facility, but also to Port Arthur.

“My main concern is obviously the impact this project could have on the health and environment of Port Arthur residents,” District 5 Councilman John Beard, Jr. said Wednesday via telephone interview. “From the information I have on the surface, however, it looks like we will avoid any hazards. What is important for people to know is that this chemical is not VX.”

Beard said he has confidence in Veolia’s plan to contain the material at all stages. He added, however, that he wants citizens to be aware of the company’s project and for all sides to voice their concerns and opinions.