Tue, Mar. 9, 2004

Army discloses options to speed chemical weapons disposal
Friday, Feb 18, 2005

By Alison Vekshin
Stephens Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- The Army said Thursday it is considering three options to speed destruction of aging chemical weapons in order to meet a 2012 international treaty deadline.

One of the options being examined is a proposal to distribute the weapons for destruction among the eight storage sites, including the one at the Pine Bluff Arsenal.

The proposal has received the most attention from safety activists who charge it is a bad idea.

Another option involves removing explosive agents from the weapons and using other means to neutralize them, the Army disclosed.

A third alternative calls for policy changes. This could include working with states to change the operating rules at chemical weapons facilities.

Limited information was available Thursday on the proposals being considered. Officials from the Army Chemical Materials Agency are scheduled to give a progress report on the study to Defense Department officials on Tuesday.

"Our main objective is to receive further guidance from the Defense Department as to what parts of our assessment are viable, what parts are not, and just what direction the assessment should take as we go forward," Kevin Duvall, head of the study team, said in a statement.

The Army is scheduled to present its final report by March 21 to Michael Wynne, under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.

The Army is trying to accelerate disposal of a stockpile that originally consisted of 31,000 tons of chemical warfare agents, including blister agents and the nerve agents GB and VX.

As of Wednesday, 35 percent of the chemical weapons stockpile has been destroyed, according to the Army.

The study to speed the process has drawn sharp criticism from safety activists who have focused on the proposal to transport chemical weapons among the storage sites.

The critics say transporting aging chemical weapons along the nation's highways could place people at risk for chemical exposure and terrorism.

They say the study is part of a plan to move weapons from stockpile sites in Kentucky and Colorado, where destruction facilities are still in the design phase, to other sites where facilities already are operating.

"What's really motivating this are dollars," said Craig Williams, director of the Chemical Weapons Working Group, a Kentucky-based anti-incineration group.

"There is a resistance at the (Office of the Secretary of Defense) level to treat weapons in Kentucky and Colorado," Williams said. "The unsubstantiated assumption is that it would be a cost savings."

The $500 million incineration plant at the Pine Bluff Arsenal is scheduled to begin destroying 3,850 tons of material next month. The arsenal houses 12 percent of the nation's stockpile.

In Congress, Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., has introduced legislation blocking the Defense Department from spending funds on a study to transport chemical weapons across state lines.