Defense Environment Alert

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

Vol. 14, No. 23

November 14, 2006

HOUSE DEMOCRATS WILL FOCUS ON INCREASING PACE OF CHEM DEMIL EFFORTS

The new Democratic majority on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) in the next Congress will attempt to quicken the pace of chemical weapons destruction, a controversial and increasingly political process for which the military has been criticized for its schedule and cost overruns and some of its destruction technology choices, a Democratic HASC source says.

The source says there will be a new focus next year on the pace of chemical weapons stockpile destruction and "a renewed commitment to [completing it] sooner rather than later. I don't think chemical weapons destruction is a partisan issue, but the pace is a concern." The source also says a Democratic HASC will likely "renew our commitment internationally to Russia" - which also has a significant chemical weapons stockpile and is struggling to meet an international treaty deadline - and "expand [demilitarization efforts] into new areas," such as assisting small countries like Albania destroy their stockpiles.

The Army's Chemical Materials Agency and DOD's Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (ACWA) program have been criticized by demilitarization advocates for not meeting stockpile destruction deadlines in the Chemical Weapons Convention, to which the United States is a signatory. Outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld admitted earlier this year that American stockpiles would not meet even the extended benchmark of 2012 for complete destruction outlined in the treaty (Defense Environment Alert, April 18, p8).

In addition, the ACWA program - in the past targeted by DOD for cuts that were then generally reversed by Congress - will likely benefit from the expected rise of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to Senate minority leader, one environmentalist says. McConnell has long championed the program, which will apply non-incineration destruction technologies at the stockpiles in Kentucky and Colorado. His new position means ACWA will be "somewhat protected" from budget cuts, the source says.