Approximately 8,000 gallons of GB (Sarin) neutralized waste will be sent from the Blue Grass Army Depot to Port Arthur, Texas, in late January or February following a recent federal ruling in favor of the Army.
“The situation in Kentucky is that there are leaking containers of GB (Sarin) agent contaminated liquid that must be destroyed immediately and there is no capacity to deal with the resultant liquids at this site,” said Craig Williams, director of the Berea-based Chemical Weapons Working Group.
The coalition is focused on safe elimination of the nation’s chemical weapons stockpiles that fought successfully to prevent chemical agent VX hydrolysate from being shipped to Ohio and New Jersey from an Army facility in Indiana.
“Our organization and the entire Kentucky Governor’s Commission have communicated in the strongest terms our opposition to shipping the vastly larger amount of liquid materials generated from disposing of the remaining 523 tons of agent stored here to Texas,” Williams said. “That larger operation is not scheduled to begin until around 2015.”
Environmental and social justice groups in Texas have agreed to accept waste similar to that which both organizations and their allies in the recent past fought vigorously against.
More recently, the CWWG and CIDA (Community In-Power Development Association) a grassroots citizens group in Port Arthur, Texas, fought unsuccessfully to stop that material from being sent and incinerated in Texas.
Through education, public protest, political action and litigation, the citizens argued that moving such materials across the country to be burned in an already pollution burdened community was not acceptable. However, a federal judge ruled in favor of the Army, and before the opposition groups could appeal the decision, the last of the shipments was sent to the Veolia facility in Port Arthur for incineration.
Now, however, special circumstances have caused these same groups to reluctantly accept a small amount of GB (Sarin) hydrolysate from the storage site at the depot. The Indiana waste totaled almost 2 million gallons, while the Kentucky liquids will be in the neighborhood of 8,000 gallons — or about 2 ISO (transport) containers, compared to almost 400 from Indiana.
According to the Army, the Veolia incineration incinerator in Port Arthur is the only facility permitted to handle this type of waste.
“Although we don’t desire any more of this material to be brought here to our community, we recognize at the same time, these are special circumstances,” said Hilton Kelly, director of the CIDA group in Port Arthur. “Our fellow citizens in Kentucky are under the gun, being at risk due to these leaking containers and we feel it is our duty to step up and assist them in their time of need. However, this should not be interpreted as opening the door to such shipments in the future. If the Army believes we are willing to accept more, they are sorely mistaken.”
In the case of the Indiana shipments, plans were made and permits issued to erect a treatment facility on site to handle that waste. The Army, however, changed its mind and secretly contracted with Veolia to take and burn the waste, Williams said.
“This course of action (hydrolysate shipment to Texas) is not intended to set a precedent in any way with respect to the secondary waste generated by the Blue Grass Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant,” said Kevin Flamm, program manager for the Army’s disposal program in Kentucky.
That disposal plant will include a separate treatment capability to handle the neutralized materials from their stores of GB, VX and Mustard agent when operations begin.
Local News
Chemical waste to be sent to Texas
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‘She wasn’t just a teacher’ : Lambert retires after 43 years at Berea
Scroll to the bottom of the story to read "Love for Lambert: Berea graduates share memories of their teacher," as well as a list of other Berea retirees this year.
Writer’s Note: Brenda Lambert is the reason I write articles today (Class of 2000).
Years ago, a little blonde-haired girl from Rockcastle County gathered her friends to “play school” in a 10-by-10 foot playhouse her father built.
Even at 12 years old, Brenda Lambert knew she wanted to be a teacher one day.
“I always felt like an old person trapped in a young person's body,” said Lambert, who is retiring after 43 years of service to Berea Community School. -
Special Olympics return for 18th year at EKU
Next weekend, the Special Olympics Kentucky State Summer Games return to Eastern Kentucky University campus. This is the 18th consecutive year EKU has hosted the event.
The games will be Friday through June 2. About 1,300 athletes will compete this year. -
Assault charges reduced, dismissed by grand jury
Two men arrested in connection with serious assaults had their charges reduced, and in one case dismissed, by a Madison grand jury.
Jerry Wayne Edington, 34, of Berea Road, was charged Jan. 19 with second-degree assault after an altercation at the Blue Moon bar on East Irvine Street, according to a Richmond police report. -
Dump of the Day
The Dump of the Day is a recurring series the newspaper publishes to highlight illegal trash piles and push local governments to cite perpetrators and get illegal dumps cleaned up. See Page A7 in Sunday's paper to read a copy of the city’s ordinance related to trash pickup.
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Paradise Cove open through Labor Day
Opening day of Paradise Cove Family Aquatic Center coincided with a spike in temperatures Friday which reached 90 degrees. The facility, located in Richmond’s Lake Reba Park, will be open through Sept. 3. Regular hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday.
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Dump of the Day
An old mattress, a car seat and other debris sit Friday afternoon on North Street between Fourth and Fifth Streets where it was first spotted Thursday. The “Dump of the Day” is a recurring series the Richmond Register publishes to highlight illegal trash piles and push local governments to cite perpetrators and get illegal dumps cleaned up. See Sunday’s Richmond Register to read a copy of the city’s ordinance related to trash pickup.
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Undefeated academic team brings pride to Madison Middle School
Madison Middle School 6th and 7th grade academic teams have been undefeated for the last two years.
The 8th grade team also has done well, having some students qualify to compete at the state level. -
Woman fends off burglar with knife
A Berea woman used a kitchen knife to fend off an alleged burglar early Wednesday morning, and police say they were able to catch the man in the act.
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Man is indicted on additional sex charge involving teen in 1998
A man already accused of sex abuse in November 2011 has been indicted on a charge of first-degree rape involving a child in 1998.
Charles W. Peyton, 63, of East Irvine Street, was indicted Wednesday by a Madison grand jury. He used “forcible compulsion” to have sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl between March 1 and May 1 in 1998, according to the indictment. -
Woman fends off burglar with knife
A Berea woman used a kitchen knife to fend off an alleged burglar early Wednesday morning, and police say they were able to catch the man in the act.
Officers responded to a call in the 1000 block of Scaffold Cane Road about a man trying to break into a home, according to a release from BPD Public Information Officer Jake Reed. - More Local News Headlines
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