Don't delay poison gas cleanup

A senseless federal budget cut could leave tons of chemical weapons sitting in southern Colorado.

For decades, the U.S. Army has stored a staggering amount of mustard gas at its depot 15 miles east of Pueblo: Some 2,600 tons of the deadly blistering agent are packed into 780,078 shells and stored in 102 buildings.

The ready-made weapons of mass destruction are tempting targets for terrorists and must be closely guarded. The munitions sometimes leak, so they periodically are inspected and repackaged. Both jobs mean Uncle Sam has to spend about $15 million a year just taking care of now-useless, still-dangerous weapons.

Two years ago, the Pentagon approved a program that would safely dispose of the mustard gas. Instead of burning the munitions (a controversial method used at some other Army posts), the Pueblo depot would neutralize the chemicals using water and bacteria. This process works as well as incineration but poses fewer environmental risks.

Since the decision was made, the Army and its contractor have designed the facilities and applied for a permit from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The $1 billion project is on budget and ahead of schedule.

Rather than reward this hard work, the Pentagon is about to punish it. The Pentagon admits its needs $151 million next year just to keep the Pueblo project going. Yet it has asked Congress to give the project only $5 million in 2005. That 95 percent budget cut will delay construction of the facilities for a year and seriously postpone the project's completion.

The cutbacks won't really save taxpayers any money. Pentagon budget documents show the Pueblo funds would just be handed to other weapons disposal projects that have fallen behind schedule.

The problem involves internal bickering between the part of the Army that has likes the high-tech neutralization method, and a rival unit that promotes incineration of chemical weapons. Ironically, the neutralization programs are mostly on budget and schedule, but the incineration projects are behind. Based on the budget documents, it looks like the Pentagon faction that supports incineration is trying to hoodwink Congress into thinking both disposal methods are equally cumbersome.

Congress has to fix the mess. Colorado's congressional delegation must demand that funding be restored for the Pueblo project. The delegation should work with senators and representatives from Kentucky, where another successful weapons neutralization project is on tap. If the Pentagon gets away with its budget charade, cleanup work in both states could suffer.

The Pentagon should reward success and punish failure. Its weird budget priorities would do just the opposite - and leave Colorado with a huge stockpile of dangerous and aging chemical weapons.