Defense Environment Alert

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

Vol. 15, No. 22

October 30, 2007

LAWMAKERS URGE 2017 CHEM DEMIL DEADLINE IN FINAL DOD AUTHORIZATION BILL

Several lawmakers are urging House defense authorizing committee leaders during their upcoming conference with the Senate on the fiscal year 2008 defense authorization bill to accept a Senate-backed measure that would establish the accelerated date of 2017 as the deadline for the military's destruction of U.S. chemical weapons. The provision would set a deadline several years earlier than the timeline by which DOD says the United States will finish destruction of the chemical weapons stockpile.

Specifically, the measure would move up the schedule the Defense Department has set for destruction of chemical weapons at Blue Grass Army Depot, KY, and Pueblo Chemical Depot, CO. Earlier this year, DOD certified that it plans to stretch out the cost and schedule to meet the destruction goals at the Pueblo and Bluegrass sites until 2020 and 2023, respectively.

The DOD move reflected budget constraints and the direction given by the Pentagon after then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld formally told Congress in April 2006 that the United States would not meet the extended 2012 chemical weapons stockpile destruction deadline mandated by treaty.

"In November 2006, the Pentagon released a budget projection for the disposal projects at these two sites, which if adhered to would extend Kentucky's weapons disposal end date from 2015 to 2023 and Colorado's from 2016 to 2020," 10 Kentucky and Colorado House lawmakers say in their Oct. 19 letter to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO) and Ranking Member Duncan Hunter (R-CA). The letter is available on InsideEPA.com. See page 2 for details.

Destruction of chemical weapons at these two sites is being done by neutralization methods, overseen by the Office of the Secretary of Defense's Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (ACWA) program, as opposed to the traditional Army program that manages the rest of the stockpile's destruction. An Army spokesman has said the 2017 deadline would have little impact on destruction timelines for the five remaining sites that the traditional Army program oversees, as the last of these is slated to be complete with destruction of chemical weapons by 2017.

Over the past several years, the Defense Department has swung back and forth in directing the ACWA program to accelerate and then decelerate its disposal process, at one point freezing money for the program.

"The 523 tons of nerve and blister agent at the Blue Grass depot, and the 2,611 tons of mustard agent at the Pueblo depot, pose serious risks to surrounding communities as the Cold War-Era weapons continue to age, becoming less stable and serve as terrorist targets," the lawmakers' letter says. "Not only would a shorter deadline help protect these communities, but it would also save taxpayers about $3.3 billion."

Although the United States is unable to meet the 2012 deadline, "getting as close as possible will protect our citizens, help us comply with international law and save taxpayers billions of dollars," the letter says.

After an amendment sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was successfully attached to the FY08 defense authorization bill in the Senate, one DOD source said a new deadline of 2017 would be "almost impossible" to meet for these two sites, no matter what amount of money is funneled to it, but added that the program could likely accelerate disposal at the two sites (Defense Environment Alert, Oct. 2, p12). The House-approved version does not contain the measure.

Signatories to the letter are: Reps. Ben Chandler (D-KY), Geoff Davis (R-KY), Harold Rogers (R-KY), Ron Lewis (R-KY), Ed Whitfield (R-KY), John Yarmuth (D-KY), John Salazar (D-CO), Mark Udall (D-CO), Diana DeGette (D-CO), and Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO).

The Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG), a long-time watchdog of the military's chemical weapons disposal program, applauded the move to make the measure law, citing both the fiscal benefits and the reduced risks to the surrounding stockpile communities that would result, according to an Oct. 24 press release by CWWG.