Defense Environment Alert
April 9, 2002

DOD BACKS NEUTRALIZATION, SEEKS ACCELERATED DESTRUCTION AT PUEBLO

After a lengthy review, the Defense Department has endorsed neutralization followed by biotreatment as the preferred method to use to destroy stockpiled chemical weapons stored in Pueblo, CO. Citizen activists are applauding the decision, which marks the first time DOD is backing use of a non-incineration method to destroy assembled chemical weapons.

DOD Under Secretary for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics E.C. "Pete" Aldridge recently signed off on the neutralization method as the preferred technology to be listed in an upcoming environmental impact analysis for the Pueblo site. Aldridge also tasked the Army and a DOD research and development (R&D) program with finding a way to speed up the destruction process at Pueblo. "In view of the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 200 1, 1 also direct the Army and Program Manager for Assembled Chemical Weapons Assessment (PM ACWA) to identify an approach to accelerate destruction of the chemical stockpile at Pueblo," Aldridge says in a March 25 memo to the secretary of the Army. The ACWA program is an R&D program that has tested various non-incineration technologies for destroying assembled chemical weapons.

Documents related to the recent decision for Pueblo are available on InsideEPA.com. See page 2 for details.

As it stands, none of the technologies that have been considered for destroying the 2,6 11 tons of mustard agentfilled munitions at Pueblo would be able to meet even an extended deadline of 2012. The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), an international treaty to which the United States is a party, mandates destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles by 2007, but allows countries to request a five-year extension -- something that both the United States and Russia say they will need. Accelerating the destruction at Pueblo may "improve the prospects of meeting the extended Chemical Weapons Convention treaty deadline," Aldridge says. He gives the Army and PM ACWA 90 days to develop a proposal that includes determining funding requirements and identifying implications under the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires studying environmental impacts of any major federal actions. DOD plans to immediately launch discussions with state and local communities on possible methods for acceleration, according to DOD.

Aldridge made his decision based on a recommendation from a high-level DOD board. The so-called overarching integrated product team (OIPT), comprised of officials from various DOD and Army offices, is part of a process to provide advice on critical decisions concerning acquisition programs. While the ACWA program manager in a March 14 presentation to the OIPT had recommended the neutralization/biotreatment technology for Pueblo, the Army's chemical demilitarization program manager had backed a modified version of the Army's baseline destruction method of incineration, according to a source at the meeting. The review regarding selection of a technology for Pueblo was launched over a year ago. The team is also evaluating technologies to use to destroy the Army's stockpile in Lexington, KY. In 1996, Congress barred spending appropriations on construction of a baseline incineration facility at Pueblo and Lexington until the effectiveness of alternative demilitarization technologies had been examined.

The OIPT says it recommended neutralization/biotreatment as the preferred method for two reasons: "because it 1) is considered the most favorable technology by the Pueblo community and, 2) has the best potential for acceleration," according to a March 21 memo signed by OIPT chair Anna Johnson-Winegar, deputy assistant to the secretary of defense for chemical and biological defense. In recent months, the neutral ization/biotreatment method has gained widespread support by Colorado politicians, including the governor, and the Pueblo community.

And a representative of a cost analysis group who briefed the OIPT explained that using an accelerated neutralization approach similar to that being employed for the bulk agent stockpile at Aberdeen, MD, would be a better approach and may allow DOD to reach the 2012 extended deadline under the CWC, the OIPT memo says. At Aberdeen, neutralized waste will be shipped off-site for treatment.

Citizen activists are seeing DOD's endorsement of neutralization at Pueblo as a breakthrough for use of non-incineration technologies elsewhere. "If neutralization, which doesn't emit toxic chemicals out into the atmosphere, is viable for Colorado's munitions, it is also viable for munitions stored in Alabama, Oregon, Arkansas, and Kentucky," says the Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG) in a March 28 press release. CWWG has long fought the Army's reliance on incineration as the preferred method for destroying chemical weapons.

"It has been a 14-year battle for us here in Pueblo," said Ross Vincent, senior policy advisor for the Sierra Club, in the CWWG press release. "The Army's decision means that we can move ahead quickly and in harmony to destroy the 780,000 mustard-agent-containing rounds stored here. It also means that incinerator salesmen can no longer argue persuasively that incineration is 'state-of-the-art' -- the 'best' way to dispose of combustible wastes."

Aldridge's decision to endorse neutralization sets in motion several actions that culminate in finalizing the selection of a technology for Pueblo. The Army plans to soon release its environmental impact review of the four technologies evaluated for use at Pueblo. That document, which evaluated two incineration technologies, the neutralization/biotreatment method and a neutralization method followed by supercritical water oxidation, will identify neutral ization/biotreatment as the preferred alternative, according to a recent Army memo to Congress. The Army expects the final environmental impact statement to be printed in the Federal Register April 12. After a 30-day holding period, the Army assistant secretary for installations and environment will sign off on a record of decision for the technology. Then, after reviewing the plan to accelerate destruction and supporting budget data, Aldridge, as the defense acquisition executive, will "consider signing the Acquisition Decision Memorandum selecting the method of disposal" for Pueblo, the Aldridge memo says.