Post / RJ Sangosti John Klomp, left, part of an advisory panel on weapons disposal at the Army’s Pueblo Chemical Depot, and U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., tour the facility Wednesday. The men and Pueblo residents heard from a Defense Department official about the delay in the destruction of mustard gas weapons at the depot.

Pueblo - The Pentagon halted work on a plant to destroy mustard weapons at the Pueblo Chemical Depot because it will cost $2.6 billion - $1 billion more than had been anticipated - to destroy the weapons, a top Pentagon official said Wednesday.

Patrick Wakefield, deputy assistant to the secretary of defense, told 250 people at the Pueblo Convention Center that "unacceptable costs" had forced the Pentagon to stop all work at the depot until the Army can study alternative plans.

"The facility is a much larger facility, far more robust, and because it is more robust, it has more people (working) in the facility, and obviously when you have more people in the facility, the costs are going to go up," Wakefield said.

Rep. John Salazar, the new Democratic congressman whose district includes Pueblo, invited Wakefield to Pueblo to answer questions from residents concerned about a series of recent developments.

For starters, the Bush administration is seeking no money in the next fiscal year for construction in the project. The Pentagon has ordered the Army to study alternatives for Pueblo and the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, including transporting the weapons to other disposal sites, a move that would require a change in federal law or a waiver from President Bush. Budget projections show there would not be enough money to begin major construction until 2011.

Community members pelted Wakefield with questions. Why, after community volunteers worked for more than 16 years to see the weapons destroyed, is there a need for more studies? If the Pentagon had concerns about the cost and size of the project, why weren't the concerns addressed sooner? If terrorists attack the chemical depot, and people die, who will be responsible?

"I have never seen so much smoke blown up my shirt sleeve as I have coming into this building. By God, go back to Washington, get the money and finish this project," said Doug Wiley, a farmer who lives in the Avondale, the closest community to the depot, where each home has an alert radio that will sound in case of disaster.

Wakefield said the Pentagon will decide in April what will happen to the mustard weapons, which cause blistering of the skin and lungs.

Wakefield said that the method of destruction - neutralizing the weapons with water and then introducing bacteria commonly used in municipal water treatment plants - would not be changed.

Salazar, who toured the Pueblo depot Wednesday, said Colorado's congressional delegation is committed to restoring money for construction on the project and finding money in the federal budget to get the project on track.

"I think that any delay in the process is only going to add cost to the project," Salazar said to a round of applause.

Residents expressed dismay that after years of work - and a groundbreaking ceremony in September - more money is being spent on a study.

Staff writer Erin Emery can be reached at 719-522-1360 or eemery@denverpost.com.