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Friday, January 28, 2005

Wyden to help sponsor legislation to prevent chemical weapons transfer

By the EAST OREGONIAN
eonews@eastoregonian.com


HERMISTON — Following Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s denunciation of relocating chemical weapons to Oregon, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., announced Thursday he will help sponsor federal legislation to prevent moving the nation’s stockpile of chemical weapons to weapons destruction facilities already operating, such as the Umatilla Chemical Depot.

The legislation, proposed by U.S. Sens. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., and Ken Salazar, D-Colo., would stop the Department of Defense from funding a study on the feasibility of transporting chemical weapons in Colorado and Kentucky to out-of-state sites.

“Protecting Oregonians near the Depot and along any potential transport route for some of the world’s most dangerous weapons is a priority, and this bill should stop the Pentagon’s latest move in its tracks,” Wyden said in a prepared statement. “The Defense Department has already studied the risks of shipping chemical weapons across state borders, and it’s time to take that possibility off the table once and for all.”

The Department of Defense announced Jan. 19 that it would look into relocating the weapons to help meet a 2012 deadline for the destruction of the entire U.S. stockpile.

Federal law prohibits moving chemical weapons across state lines, and Oregon’s permits allowing the U.S. Army to store and destroy the weapons expressly prohibits the Army from bringing more chemical weapons into the state.

The Department of Defense has already conducted three similar studies over the last two decades, all of which concluded the plan would be impractical.

There are eight sites in the U.S. storing the weapons, which must be destroyed under orders by Congress and an international treaty.

So far, the Army has destroyed about 35 percent of the stockpile. Twelve percent of the stockpile is at the Umatilla Chemical Depot, which began destroying M55 rockets filled with sarin nerve agent last September. A story Thursday gave incorrect information on the start date.

The Army also is destroying weapons stored in Utah, Alabama and Maryland. Storage sites in Arkansas and Indiana are scheduled to start destruction within the year. Sites in Colorado and Kentucky are in the early stages of construction for their weapons disposal facilities.