Lexington Herald-Leader
March 30, 2002

Anti-incineration activists praise Pentagon plan: Burning gas at depot dangerous, they say

By Jim Warren
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

Activists opposed to the burning of poison gas store at the Blue Grass Army Depot are hailing a Pentagon plan to reject incineration at a Colorado chemical weapons facility.

'It's a milestone," declared Craig Williams of Berea, director of the Chemical Weapons Working Group.

U.S. Defense Department officials this week proposed to use water-based neutralization, not incineration, to destroy 2,600 tons of mustard gas stored at Colorado's Pueblo Chemical Depot.

Though not yet official, the Colorado plan boosts chances that the Army also will chose neutralization at the Blue Grass Army Depot near Richmond, Williams said yesterday.

Williams' group, a national coalition pushing for safe disposal of aging chemical weapons, has long contended that incineration could release toxic residues into residential areas near the Madison County depot.

More than 500 tons of nerve and blister gas are stored at the Richmond facility. Army officials expect to decide by May whether to use incineration or some other method to destroy the materials.

"The Colorado decision demonstrates that these munitions can be neutralized, as opposed to incineration, at sites like ours," Williams said yesterday. "Obviously, we're very pleased."