Defense Environment Alert 09/21/04

Defense Environment Alert

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

Vol. 12, No. 19--September 21, 2004

U.S., RUSSIA RESOLVE PART OF ISSUES PLAGUING CHEM DEMIL PROGRAM

The United States and Russia have resolved differences over several issues impeding progress in the U.S.-funded program that aids Russia in destroying its stockpiled chemical weapons, a U.S. defense official said Sept. 17.

Through the Cooperative Threat Reduction program, the United States expects to eventually spend a little over $1 billion in constructing a chemical weapons destruction plant in Shchuch'ye, Russia, according to the official. To date, the United States has obligated $709 million in funding for the project, he said.

"Working in Russia has been a challenge for us," said Patrick Wakefield, assistant to the secretary of Defense for chemical demilitarization and threat reduction. "Over the last year, we have had our differences on a variety of complex issues, but these were eventually resolved." These issues, he noted, have affected "the cost, schedule and performance of the facility." Wakefield spoke at a Russian and U.S. chemical weapons destruction forum sponsored by Global Green USA, an environmental organization.

The Russian Federation has now provided and agreed to a "practical plan" and a "joint schedule" related to its chemical weapons destruction, Wakefield said. Last year, the United States and Russian Federation signed an agreement committing Russia to produce a practical plan laying out the long-term cost and schedule for its overall chemical weapons destruction program, which Russia had not delivered by the prescribed March 2004 date, says an informed source who follows the program. Wakefield did not provide specifics on when or how this was resolved.

Regarding the joint schedule, the United States and Russia had long differed over the timeframe for when the Shchuch'ye plant would be ready to start operating, the source says. While Russia had repeatedly stated a date of December 2005, the United States had said the plant would not be ready before September 2008, the source says, adding the U.S. schedule appeared to be a "practical" one based on engineering and construction plans, while the Russian schedule appeared to be "political." Now both sides have agreed to a July 2008 date, the source says.

Wakefield in his comments noted that construction for the Shchuch'ye plant would be completed by July 2008. Wakefield said the two countries have also resolved some visa issues. At issue were approximately 75 visas for people planning to work in Russia on the Shchuch'ye plant, the informed source says. This issue appears to be "partially resolved," the source says, with the Russian Federation recently granting short-term visas to 61 people. Resolving this issue was key to having proper oversight and exercising due diligence over the program, Wakefield said.

The United States and Russia also resolved issues related to federal acquisition regulations the Defense Department followed for the Shchuch'ye project, Wakefield said. The informed source says Russia had tried to get more involved in the acquisition and procurement process for the U.S. aspect of the project, requesting at the 11th hour for the U.S. government to drop the contractor from which it had decided to purchase boilers, and chose another company. Wakefield did not offer details on the issue.

Speaking on the U.S. chemical demilitarization program, Wakefield said the United States is "going to be challenged significantly to make" the 2012 extended deadline for completely destroying its stockpiled chemical weapons under the Chemical Weapons Convention. The United States will probably make a formal request for the five-year extension to 2012 about a year before the current April 2007 deadline, Kevin J. Flamm, the Army's program manager for the elimination of chemical weapons, said in a presentation at the Global Green forum.

So far, the United States has destroyed about 9,600 metric tons of chemical agent, about 30.6 percent of the United States' original stockpile, Flamm said.