Kentucky communities take stand on chemical weapons transport

By Rob Jordan
Star Staff Writer
01-28-2005

Some Kentucky communities have drafted official opposition to the Pentagon’s proposal to study the transportation of chemical weapons. Calhoun County officials so far have held off on such a move. Pentagon officials recently expressed their intention to slash funding for construction of facilities in Kentucky and Colorado. They said they would study the possibility of moving chemical weapons from those sites to existing disposal sites, such as the Anniston incinerator. In Madison County, Ky., home of the Blue Grass Army Depot stockpile, the county commission and the Richmond City Council have drafted ordinances to ban the transport of chemical weapons within county and city boundaries. The city council of Berea, Ky., passed a similar ordinance in the 1990s, when the Pentagon announced plans to build a destruction facility at Blue Grass, eight miles away. “There is extreme disappointment,” Berea Mayor Steven Connelly said of the Pentagon’s recent announcement. In addition to fearing the movement of such weapons through their communities, residents of Berea and nearby Richmond are “mad,” said Rob Rumtke, head of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce. “We’re just trying to send a strong message that this is not what we want in any way,” Rumtke said of the ordinances. Rumtke said chamber members would meet today to formulate a plan to join forces with other potentially affected communities. “Certainly I think Anniston … would be a pretty willing partner,” he said. Sherri Sumners, president of the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce, said she didn’t deem it necessary for the chamber to take a stance on the issue because, she said, it is highly unlikely chemical weapons relocation ever would be approved. “Frankly, we think it is so difficult to achieve, it’s not even an issue,” Sumners said. “A lot of people are weighing in on it because of one memo on one study,” she said, referring to a recent Pentagon document about weapons relocation. Because Alabama’s congressional delegation is on the record as opposing relocation, Sumners said, there’s little the chamber can add to the debate. “We’re just not getting too worked up about it,” she said. Anniston Mayor Chip Howell said he has written a letter to the state’s congressional delegation urging them to continue their opposition, but he has not considered drafting a resolution. Calhoun County Commission Chairman Eli Henderson said the commission has no plan so far to draft a resolution opposing weapons relocation, but might consider doing so. Like Sumners, Henderson said he doesn’t believe federal law would ever allow such transportation. “It’s never going to happen,” he said. Federal law banned the study of chemical weapons transport until 1998 and still prohibits any such relocation. Amending the law would require a presidential order or act of Congress. U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama is co-sponsoring a bill to prohibit such a study. The Army’s Chemical Materials Agency announced Thursday it has assembled a team of experts for the study. Findings are due by Feb. 18.

About Rob Jordan

Rob Jordan covers Oxford for The Star.