Defense Environment Alert 08/23/05

Defense Environment Alert

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

Vol. 13, No. 17--August 23, 2005

SENATORS CONTINUE PRESSURE TO FULLY FUND ACWA IN FUTURE YEARS

Senators from Kentucky and Colorado are maintaining pressure on DOD to fully fund the alternative chemical weapons destruction program, and not revert back to an earlier policy that effectively put the program in "caretaker status."

In an Aug. 12 letter to DOD acquisition chief Kenneth J. Krieg, the senators say they believe the department is weighing various options for the fiscal year 2007 budget for the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (ACWA) program, which is destroying stockpiled chemical weapons at facilities in Pueblo, CO, and Richmond, KY using non-incineration methods. Congress has been a long-time advocate of the program. One of these options is to limit ACWA's budget to about $33 million beginning in FY07, relegating it "once again to 'caretaker status,"' the senators say.

Such a budget would be "wholly unsatisfactory," they say. "Were [the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD)] to decide to return the ACWA's sites to caretaker status, such a decision would reflect exactly the same 'on again off again' management approach that has plagued this program since its inception," says the letter, signed by Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Jim Bunning (R-KY), Wayne Allard (R-CO) and Ken Salazar (D-CO). The letter is available on InsideEPA.com. See page 2 for details.

Earlier this year, DOD had planned to slash funding for the ACWA sites, saying cost constraints forced the department to prioritize funding for existing destruction facilities, with little left over for the still-to-be-built ACWA sites. But lawmakers have disputed the claim. And in April, under pressure from lawmakers, then-DOD acquisition chief Michael Wynne reversed policy, releasing $302 million that DOD had previously withheld from the program (Defense Environment Alert, May 3, p7).

The senators say they strongly advocate DOD adopt other options being considering - such as funding the program in the $300 million - $400 million range.

"This year's Supplemental Appropriations Act ... and accompanying [conference report] language leave no room for doubt about the desire of Congress to see ACWA fully funded and on a path toward safe and immediate disposal of these chemical weapons," the senators say.

A DOD spokesman would not provide specifics on what is being considered for the FY07 budget for ACWA, saying no final decisions have been made. DOD intends to develop a budget that complies with internal budgetary guidance and DOD priorities, he adds.

The senators also press Krieg for a response to a June 17 letter that asked him to lift cost limits the military self- imposed on the ACWA sites (Defense Environment Alert, June 28, p 17). The DOD spokesman says the department plans to send a response to that letter later this month.

And the senators' letter asks about the status of a report due July 10 on the obligation and expenditure rates of the ACWA program. The report is under final review and is expected to be sent to Congress this month, the DOD spokesman says.

In related news, a high-level DOD chemical demilitarization official was put on "administrative leave" last week. Patrick Wakefield, deputy assistant to the secretary of defense for chemical demilitarization and threat reduction, was placed on administrative leave Aug. 16 until further notice - following a DOD inspector general administrative investigation, according to the DOD spokesman. But the spokesman says the "action does not involve the management or oversight of the demilitarization and threat-reduction programs." Acting for him is Doug Englund, who also is the acting director for the on-site inspection directorate in DOD's Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the spokesman says.

The spokesman would not provide any details regarding the investigation, saying only that because it is an administrative personnel action, details about the investigation will not be publicly released.