Hermiston Herald
June 2, 2003

Committee passes bill requiring upgrade to depot alarm systems

By Frank Lockwood
Staff writer

HERMISTON - The Senate Armed Services Committee passed an amendment last
week requiring upgrades to alarm systems at chemical weapons storage and
disposal sites, including Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility.

On May 20, Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) introduced an amendment to the 2004
Defense Authorization Bill, and on May 23 it was passed as part of the bill,
stating that alarm systems should be upgraded.

Chemical Weapons Working Group, the watchdog organization based in Berea,
Kentucky, reported that the National Research Council (NRC) had been
recommending for nine years that the Army upgrade the warfare agent
monitoring systems at chemical weapons storage and disposal sites, and that
they systems were inefficient and outdated. Advanced systems could reduce
response time from more than twenty minutes to less than 10 seconds, CWWG
reported.

Additionally, the technologies are said to be able to provide reliable
confirmation of any agent releases. Over the last 15 years the Army's
incinerators have had agent alarms, some real - some false, without a way to
reliably tell the difference, CWWG says, and the true cause of many of the
false alarms remains unidentified.

Williams applauded the amendment's passage, saying, "With the provision
introduced by Mr. Bunning and the support of Sen. McConnell (R-Ky.), all
stockpile communities can rest easier knowing the best available monitoring
technologies will be deployed as the weapons disposal program moves
forward."

The alarm ugrades come on the heels of a series of Army reorganizations, as
follows:

• December 2001 - The Army announced a major reorganization in chemical
  Demilitarization, in which chemical weapons disposal would be taken away
  from Acquisitions, Logistics, and Technology and placed under Installations
  and Environment, overseen by Mario Fiori.
• Fall 2002 - Rumors circulated that Fiori was on the way out.
• January 2003 - In January 2003, the rumors concerning Fiori's pending
  removal proved true, when the second national shakeup in a year took place.
  Chemical weapons disposal was moved out from under Fiori, back under
  Acquisitions, Logistics, and Technology where it had been previously.
• January 2003 - Storage and disposal of chemical weapons were then combined
  and placed under Maj. General Claude Bolton. Previously, they had been
  managed as separate offices, with the Soldier and Biological Chemical
  Command charge of storage, and the Program Manager for Chemical
  Demilitarization over the destruction of chemical weapons.
• Early 2003 - A new agency - the Chemical Material Agency (CMA) - was
  formed, with a new Director, Michael Parker. (CWWG had at first accepted
  Fiori but, later, CWWG's enthusiasm for Fiori soured.)
• Now CWWG praises the new leadership, as well as Senator Bunning, who
  introduced the bill for upgrading the monitoring systems. An attempt to have
  a similar amendment passed by Congress two years ago had been vigorously
  opposed by the previous Army leadership, CWWG reports.

"This new attitude reflects a significant improvement in the management of
the program under Mr. Parker and Secretary Bolton," CWWG reported. Said
Craig Williams, CWWG's director, "It is a welcome change to see the activist
community, the Congress and the Army all working together toward a common
and important goal."