Associated Press
September 4, 2003

U.S. Wants Delay For Destroying Weapons

Associated Press
September 4, 2003

WASHINGTON - The United States said Wednesday it will not meet an April 2004 deadline for destroying 45 percent of its chemical weapons stockpile. The Pentagon said it has asked the world body that governs the destruction requirement for a delay until December 2007.

The United States has destroyed about 23 percent of its declared stockpile of 31,280 tons of mustard gas, sarin and other chemical weapons. Environmental, safety and other problems at high-temperature incinerators have made it impossible to meet the 2004 deadline, the Pentagon said.

In line with provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997, the United States submitted its request for more time to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

The Chemical Weapons Convention was the first treaty in history requiring elimination of an entire class of weapons under a timetable and under oversight of international inspectors. The vast majority of nations - 153 - are treaty members, but significant gaps exist, especially in the Middle East, where Israel, Egypt and other Arab states have failed to ratify it.

The treaty set a deadline of 2007 for the United States, Russia, India and South Korea - declared possessors - to destroy their chemical weapons. The 45 percent milestone was to be reached by 2004.

Since the United States is asking for three extra years to reach the 45 percent milestone, it is almost certain it will later seek a delay in the 2007 deadline for 100 percent destruction. Under terms of the Chemical Weapons Convention it could be granted a delay to 2012.

The U.S. Army expects to spend $24 billion destroying its weapons, which were produced to be used in rockets, shells and land mines during the Cold War.

The pilot plant for incineration was at Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. About 6 percent of the U.S. stockpile of chemical weapons was destroyed there between 1990 and 2000.

The destruction program has encountered many delays since then. Several thousand tons of chemicals have been destroyed at incinerators near Tooele, Utah, and another incinerator at Anniston, Ala., began operating last month after lengthy delays. Other incinerators are being tested at Pine Bluff Arsenal near Pine Bluff, Ark., and at the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility near Hermiston, Ore.

While the United States has been forced to seek an extension of the 45 percent destruction mark, the Russian government has encountered worse problems. It has eliminated only 1 percent of its stockpile and has requested a five-year extension to 2012 to reach 100 percent destruction.