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


Vol. 13, No. 20--October 4, 2005


CHEM WEAPONS TREATY CHIEF RESISTS REOPENING CWC 2012

The top official overseeing implementation of an international treaty on chemical weapons destruction warned late last month against U.S. and Russian delays in destroying stockpiles of chemical weapons that threaten to breach the 2012 ultimate destruction deadline required by the treaty.

He signaled strong opposition to reopening the treaty to rework the extended destruction  deadline of 2012, saying it would weaken the entire structure of multilateral disarmament.

Delays in the destruction of stockpiled chemical weapons particularly in Russia, but also in the United States, are seen by some "as a source of increasing concern," Rogelio Pfirter, director-general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), told a Sept. 23 forum convened by the environmental group Global Green USA. The United States and Russia have the lion's share of the more than 71,000 metric tons of stockpiled chemical weapons declared under the treaty, with Russia having declared 40,000 metric tons and the United States having declared 30,612 metric tons.

"Both nations have faced this issue squarely and have transparently and proactively provided revised destruction plans intended to accelerate the elimination process," he said in prepared remarks. "Given the substantial political and financial investment in this process, and in fight of the risks of any weakening of the chemical weapons ban, we must all be prepared to allocate more resources, expend more effort and quicken our resolve to destroy these weapons."

Failure to comply with the final 2012 deadline in the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) "would inevitably weaken not only the CWC but the whole edifice of multilateral disarmament, as it would risk reopening and putting into question the very purpose and intention of a Treaty which is, for better or worse, the only active and effective instrument overseeing the destruction of a whole category of weapons of mass destruction," he said in the prepared remarks.

Renegotiating new deadlines would also be difficult because all 174 member countries would have to give consent, he said.

And it opens the door to amending the treaty for any number of reasons, other experts say. Paul Walker, director of the Global Green Legacy Program, said in a follow-up interview that many of the OPCW member parties are very reluctant to hold an amendments conference because of the politically complicated issues that would likely arise. In testimony before a Senate Armed Services subcommittee April 11, State Department arms control official Donald Mahley urged against amending the CWC because it would "gravely undermine" the incentive for other chemical weapons possessors to destroy their stocks and would run the risk of opening the convention up to a slew of amendments that he fears would transform it from an "arms control and security agreement to ... a technology transfer and chemical industry assistance agreement."

Nonetheless, many doubt that the United States and Russia will meet the 2012 destruction deadline. If that happens, the OPCW parties "may just be willing to let it ride," if programs are moving forward to destroy the stockpiles, Walker said. The CWC does not contain any serious enforcement mechanisms, "other than political chastising of parties," he noted. The dilemma could also lead to redefining the point at which a chemical weapon is considered destroyed as defined by the treaty, thereby allowing countries to focus on the first stage of destruction,
Walker said.

U.S. and Russian officials at the Global Green forum cited significant challenges to their chemical weapons destruction mission. Michael Parker, director of the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency (CMA), said one of the program's biggest challenges has been the difficulty in setting cost and schedule parameters for the program under evolving regulatory requirements that may vary from state to state. The cost and schedule for the program has spiraled, with the program estimated to possibly cost as much as $37 billion, according to Department of Defense testimony given at the April I I hearing. The Army does not currently have a destruction completion date for two of its stockpile sites, and maintains it will complete destruction at the six other sites but acknowledges it faces significant challenges in doing so, according to CMA spokeswomen.

Political agendas have also stymied progress in the program, as well as a lack of data on the composition and configuration of the stockpile, which is now 50 years old and degrading, Parker said.

Vladimir Yermakov, senior counselor at the Russian Federation embassy, said the Russian program's challenges have been time, international assistance and public outreach.

On the public outreach front, the Russian chemical weapons demilitarization facility being funded primarily by U.S. dollars through the Cooperative Threat Reduction program is in danger of being derailed due to social infrastructure issues, according to a study just released by Global Green on the facility being built in Shchuch'ye, Russia.

"Until critical community needs such as emergency-preparedness and evacuation routes, potable water, heat, and public health are addressed, this major threat reduction initiative could quickly turn into a dangerous liability,"Walker said in a statement on the study's findings.

Meanwhile, DOD has taken recent action signaling greater support for chemical demilitarization work at the two Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (ACWA) facilities in Pueblo, CO, and Richmond, KY, which are relyingon non-incineration methods to destroy their stockpiles. DOD had been chastised earlier this year for effectively placing the projects in "caretaker" status, slashing funding because of cost constraints DOD said forced it to prioritize funding for existing destruction facilities, with little left over for still-to-be-built ACWA sites. But under pressure from lawmakers, DOD reversed course last spring, releasing previously withheld funding for the program.

DOD recently submitted an update on the ACWA program to Congress, indicating obligations of $21 million in funding for the two sites as of July 31 and additional monies coming forward by the end of September. And the program may soon see another boost. The Senate Appropriations Committee Sept. 28 approved a defense appropriations bill for fiscal year 2006 that adds $22 million to re-start development activities at the ACWA sites. The bill would fully fund the president's $1.4-billion budget for the chemical demilitarization program. The House and Senate must still conference the bill.

In addition, DOD acquisition chief Kenneth J. Krieg in a Sept. 9 letter to several senators conceded that defense law does not require the ACWA program to adhere to certified cost caps. Senators from Colorado and Kentucky last June charged Pentagon leaders were hobbling the ACWA program through self-imposed cost limits. Krieg's letter seems to modify DOD's previous position on using past cost figures to guide the program, a spokesman for the citizens coalition Chemical Weapons Working Group says.