Defense Environment Alert 04/19/05

Defense Environment Alert

an exclusive biweekly report on defense policies for cleanup, compliance and pollution prevention

Vol. 13, No. 8--April 19, 2005

TOP GOP SENATOR FACES DOD RESISTANCE ON CHEM WEAPONS DISPOSAL

The Senate appears likely to back legislative language offered by Majority Whip Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to the Senate's bill funding military operations in Iraq ordering DOD to begin substantial work on its program to destroy assembled chemical weapons using non-incineration technologies.

However, McConnell's move comes as top DOD officials are demanding authority to determine how to destroy the chemical weapons stockpiles by the international treaty deadline of 2012 -- a move that would open the door to DOD transporting the weapons to incinerators in other states, which is barred by current law.

The United Nations Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) requires the United States and other signatories to destroy all chemical weapons by 2007, with a possible extension until 2012. DOD plans to destroy the bulk of its stockpile at six incinerator sites around the country.

However, Congress in 1996 created the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternative (ACWA) program to destroy stockpiles at the Blue Grass depot in Kentucky and in Pueblo, CO, using methods other than incineration, which scientists say poses risks to environmental and human health. While the program enjoys strong support from Kentucky and Colorado lawmakers, military officials argue that technological alternatives to incineration are not available.

But with the CWC deadline approaching, DOD has yet to begin construction at either ACWA site, despite a total congressional appropriation of $813.4 million.

In an effort to force DOD to quickly implement the program, McConnell inserted language into the supplemental appropriations bill, approved at an April 6 Appropriations Committee markup, to force DOD to implement the program.

The legislation bars DOD from spending any money, "directly or indirectly," on studying the feasibility of transporting the weapons to incinerator facilities. It would also force DOD to release $302.3 million of fiscal year 2005 funds budgeted for ACWA, currently frozen by the Pentagon, within 30 days of the legislation's passage. The ACWA program manager would then have to obligate at least $100 million of those funds within120 days of passage.

Finally, the provision requires DOD to devote all funds budgeted for ACWA funds exclusively to ACWA-related projects. Activists have long suspected DOD has been transferring ACWA funds to the incinerator sites, given the lack of progress on construction

In addition, the Senate Appropriations Committee added its own ACWA language to the supplemental bill, directing the Pentagon to report to Congress every 60 days on the status of all ACWA-budgeted funds until they all are expended, and to draw up a funding program that will allow the U.S. to destroy its chemical weapons by 2012.

McConnell delivered a stinging attack on DOD's actions in an April 13 floor speech. "The department claims ACWA sites must be downgraded to caretaker status because they are over budget due to cost overruns. Yet the department's own schizophrenic decision making is what led to these costs. The department has repeatedly stopped or slowed down design work and then restarted, adding unnecessary startup and stop-work costs. They stingily parcel out appropriated monies in such small quantities that it is impossible to spend it efficiently. Thus, it is the department’s own bureaucratic mismanagement that has created the cost problems," he said.

A DOD spokesman declined to comment on McConnell's provision, citing DOD policy against commenting on pending legislation. However, an Army spokeswoman indicated DOD would have to abide by the legislation. "If the supplemental bill is passed into law, that's the point when we salute the flag and do what Congress is telling us," she says.

The Senate has scheduled to hold a cloture vote for April 19, but it was unclear when a vote for final passage would take place.

Despite McConnell's language, military officials are continuing to press for the option of incinerating ACWA chemical weapons.

At an April 11 hearing before a Senate armed services subcommittee, Acting Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisitions, Technology and Logistics Michael Wynne said DOD was currently reassessing design options for ACWA in order to minimize costs. DOD plans to "examine every alternative we can" regarding destruction at Pueblo and Blue Grass, including transporting the weapons to incinerators in other states - - an option currently forbidden by federal law.

Wynne did not discuss McConnell's provision at the April 11 hearing before the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities. However, he warned the panel that it might not be possible to meet the 2012 deadline if Congress limits DOD's options for destroying the Blue Grass and Pueblo stockpiles.

"There is a fine balance between meeting the treaty obligations that we have and meeting the needs of the community. The needs of the community may not reflect national interest," Wynne said in response to a question from Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO), who appeared as a guest of the subcommittee.

Wynne said he felt compelled to examine every alternative that would help DOD meet the CWC deadline. "I leave it to you, sir, to determine whether that alternative is an acceptable one for meeting the treaty deadline, or whether or not we should just hold the treaty in abeyance and meet community needs over and above the national interest."

Wynne added that infusion of funds could help speed up the ACWA construction. Construction is impossible, because DOD still needs to identify the best design option for ACWA that will not exceed the original budget estimate of $1.5 billion for Pueblo and $2 billion for Blue Grass, Wynn said. Wynne expects the design alternatives to be available by June.

He also criticized the idea of halting studies on transporting the weapons for destruction in other states. "We transport hazardous materials through our major cities all the time," he told Salazar. "I feel like I need to at least look at that alternative.

"If it became 2008 or 2010, and I had only a small stockpile left and I could meet the deadline, I would probably come back to you and say, 'We could meet the treaty if you would allow me to do this.' You may say... 'No, that's not going to ever change, so we will hold the treaty in abeyance.' Sir, that would be your choice," Wynne told Salazar.

Following the hearing, Salazar told Defense Environment Alert he was looking forward to seeing the ACWA design alternatives. "I want to see what it is that DOD comes up with at the end of June, because we have been putting a significant amount of pressure on them and I'd like to see what their real timelines are going to be," Salazar said. "I think Sen. McConnell is doing the right thing in holding their feet to the fire."