Army to Miss Chemical
Weapons Deadline
By PAUL FOY, Associated
Press
4:13 AM PDT, May 11, 2006
SALT LAKE CITY -- The U.S. Army blamed unanticipated red tape
and technical problems for why it will miss a 2012 deadline to dispose of
the country's chemical weapons stockpiles.
The U.S. has destroyed 10,125 metric tons of chemical weapons out of its
declared inventory of 27,768 metric tons, and acknowledged Wednesday it won't
get the job done under the terms of a treaty ratified by 178 countries.
Russia, which has the world's largest stockpile, is even further behind.
It has destroyed only 3 percent of its 40,000 metric tons of chemical weapons,
embassy spokesman Yevgeniy Khorishko said.
"Russia will do its best to met the deadline by 2012," Khorishko told The
Associated Press on Wednesday. He said Russia's main plants for neutralizing
chemical agents won't be operating at full capacity until the end of 2007.
Russia and the United States, along with other countries, were supposed to
finish destroying chemical stocks by 2007. Both are asking an international
oversight agency for a one-time, five year extension to 2012 and both are
expected to miss that deadline, too.
The Army's Chemical Materials Agency cited delays caused by state regulators
and troubled chemical-weapons incinerators that have had to be shut or slowed
down for modifications. It offered no new projection on how long the mission
will take to finish after 2012.
Last month, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld notified congressional leaders
that the U.S. won't be able to destroy all chemical stocks under the deadline.
The Army confirmed that assessment Wednesday and offered details on problems
in this country.
The Army "will continue to seek opportunities to accelerate these destruction
time frames and complete destruction as soon as possible," said Michael A.
Parker, the agency's director. "This will be done without any compromise
to safety."
A watchdog group says much of the delays have been caused by the Army's reliance
on incinerators in Utah and elsewhere, instead of plants that use water and
other chemicals to break down lethal agents.
"History has taught us, in our program and Russia's, that things don't always
go as you like," said Craig Williams, director of the Chemical Weapons Working
Group in Berea, Ky., a group pushing for safe disposal methods.
The work has been carried out at incinerators in Alabama, Arkansas, Oregon,
Utah, Johnston Atoll in the south Pacific, and at neutralization plants in
Indiana and Maryland. The Army is expected to start construction this year
on other plants to neutralize rounds of mustard agent at Pueblo, Colo., and
Richmond, Ky.
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On the Net:
U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency: http://www.cma.army.mil/
Chemical Weapons Working Group: http://www.cwwg.org
