Chemical weapons watchdog pleased at Pentagon official's leave
Associated Press
Thu, July 22, 2005

RICHMOND, Ky. -- A Pentagon official overseeing the chemical weapons destruction program has been placed on administrative leave, a move that pleased a Kentucky critic.

Patrick Wakefield was placed on leave after an investigation by the inspector general's office for the Department of Defense, said Lt. Cmdr. Joe Carpenter, a Pentagon spokesman. The inquiry was completed Aug. 3.

Wakefield's removal was not caused by his oversight of the destruction program, which has been plagued by safety problems and spiraling costs, Carpenter said.

"I am pleased that Wakefield is finally out of the way, if only temporarily," said Craig Williams, director of the Chemical Weapons Working Group. "Should he be removed permanently, I believe many of the roadblocks faced by the disposal program will leave with him."

Carpenter would not comment on the details of Wakefield's administrative leave. But Williams' Berea-based group said it had been told by Col. Mickey Freeland, an aide to Wakefield's supervisor, that the leave was for 30 days and involved Wakefield's conduct, not his performance.

Freeland could not be reached for comment. He told the group that Wakefield can appeal the inspector general's findings within 30 days, and that Undersecretary of Defense Kenneth Krieg would then decide Wakefield's fate.

Madison County activists and elected officials in Washington have fought the Army over plans to incinerate chemical weapons at Blue Grass Army Depot at Richmond.

The Army agreed to study alternatives, and in 2002, chemical neutralization was selected.

"Wakefield has fought alternative technologies at every turn, he's fought real public involvement at every turn," Williams said. "He's a 'decide, deny, defend' kind of guy."Williams said

Wakefield is thought to have been the moving force behind an effort to study transporting the chemical weapons to incinerator sites instead of building the plant. The Pentagon shelved that idea earlier this year.

Douglas Englund, who has worked for the U.N. Special Commission that was set up to eliminate weapons of mass destruction after the Persian Gulf War, was named Wakefield's interim replacement. Most recently, Englund has worked for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.