By James R. Carroll
jcarroll@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
WASHINGTON -- The chemical weapons disposal project at Kentucky's Blue Grass Army Depot would get a significant increase in funding under the budget President Bush will propose today.
According to a letter obtained by The Courier-Journal, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has committed to about $400 million for the disposal program. Roughly half of that would go to the Kentucky project and the other half to a similar effort in Colorado.
The $400 million request for chemical weapons disposal stands in vivid contrast to the Bush administration budget request just three years ago.
At that time, the White House asked for $31 million, a spending level that would have essentially put the Kentucky and Colorado projects in a holding pattern.
Under pressure from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other lawmakers, the Defense Department has been adding money for the chemical weapons program for the last couple of years.
Now -- under a 2017 deadline authored by McConnell and approved by Congress in November -- defense officials are accelerating spending on chemical weapons disposal.
For fiscal 2007 and the current fiscal year, the Defense Department asked for and received $351 million each year for the Kentucky and Colorado projects.
In December McConnell asked Gates to increase that spending, and in a Jan. 11 letter Gates agreed.
"… I am prepared to recommend that the FY 2009 President's Budget reflect an addition that brings the budget amount for the (chemical weapons) program to around $400 million," Gates wrote.
The secretary also said his agency was evaluating possible options for destroying the chemical weapons by 2012 -- the deadline under an international treaty. But in any event, he said, the weapons would be destroyed "not later than 2017."
McConnell said in a statement that he was "pleased with Secretary Gates' responsiveness to my concerns about the need for safe and quick disposal of the chemical weapons stored at Blue Grass Army Depot. This additional funding … complements the 2017 deadline."
He added: "The bottom line is, more dollars plus an earlier deadline, equals quicker and safer disposal."
The Gates letter is "obviously a very good sign," said Craig Williams, director of the Chemical Weapons Working Group, a nonprofit citizens' advisory organization based in Berea, near the Madison County depot.
"It announces to the world that the Pentagon acknowledges that (2017) date, is going to adhere to that date and is fulfilling its financial obligations to reach that date," he said. "That's critical."
The budget still must be approved by Congress. But given past successful efforts by McConnell, Rep. Ben Chandler, D-6th District, and Colorado lawmakers, prospects appear good, Williams said.
Blue Grass is storing 523 tons of chemical weapons containing sarin, VX and mustard gas.
McConnell, state and local officials and residents have been pushing for the destruction of the weapons for years, saying they represent a safety hazard.
In early December The Courier-Journal reported that the depot experienced its largest leak ever of deadly nerve agent the previous August.
The sarin gas within a storage igloo was at a level nearly 85 times the military's safe exposure limit for the public, according to documents from the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection, obtained under the Kentucky Open Records Act.
Army officials said that the leak posed no risk to the public or employees and that they have a plan to get rid of the leaking weapons.
Work on the disposal facilities is under way. Roads, fencing, lighting and other facilities are being installed, and contractors are scheduled to pour the foundation of the main disposal building next month, Williams said.
Once the buildings are completed and the facility tested, it will take about two years to complete the destruction of the chemical weapons.
Reporter James R. Carroll can be reached at (202) 906-8141.