for more information contact:
Craig Williams (859) 986-7565
or (859) 302-1103 (cell)

for immediate release Wednesday, 2 June 2010

CHANDLER AMENDMENT STOPS POTENTIAL SLOWDOWN AT CHEMICAL WEAPONS DISPOSAL PROJECT
House Bill Would Have Forced Contract Modification Leading to Potential Long Delays

The 2011 House Defense Authorization Bill surfaced last Tuesday containing language that would have forced major modifications to the contract under which the chemical disposal facility in Kentucky is being constructed. However, Representative Ben Chandler's office, in reviewing the bill, recognized the risk this provision posed and authored an amendment that would take that language out.

When the bill reached the floor of the House, Chandler's amendment was included, stripping the language out permanently, at least for this year.

Craig Williams, Director of the Chemical Weapons Working Group said, "Representative Chandler's diligence helped us dodge another bullet on this project that could have easily set us back a couple of years."

The thrust of the language would have been to force the construction contract to go from a "Cost Reimbursement Contract" to a "Fixed Price Contract" under the Federal Acquisition Regulations. Such a change at this point in the project could lead to significant delays and add additional costs, as extending the completion date adds expense.

"Fixed Price Contracts are not necessarily the best way to go from a fiscal standpoint," said Williams. "It may sound more cost effective, but the title is misleading. In addition, this contract is over 5 years old, and changing it now would certainly interfere with execution and slow down the project, costing even more money."

It was just recently that the Pentagon released the funding projections for the next five years of the project, and they provide for a capability to accelerate destruction of the weapons, cutting two years, and possibly more, off the completion date - now projected to be 2021.

"If we want to save even more time and money, forced renegotiating of the contract is not the way to go," said Williams.

County Judge Executive Kent Clark added his appreciation for Chandler's efforts saying, "Ben is someone we have relied on, and once again he has made sure the endeavor stays on track. We're all appreciative of his continued effort in seeing this project continues uninterrupted."

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copies of the relevant documents are available upon request from the CWWG