RICHMOND - Whitey Puro helped build some of
the first M55 rockets, the power behind the warheads that contain deadly
nerve agents at Madison County's Blue Grass Army Depot. He joined several Richmond residents last night who said they support destroying
the chemical weapons nearby, as long as it's done safely. "They're selling this project with the word 'safe,'" he said. "I worked
with these weapons for 40 years. The people who do the physical work on this
project will make sure it's safe." The Army has proposed destroying more than 69,000 M55 rockets that contain
the nerve agents GB -- better known as Sarin -- and VX by slicing them in
half, separating their engines from the chemical agent. The military originally planned to cut apart the rockets during, instead
of before, the chemical neutralization process at the $2 billion plant it
plans to build at Blue Grass Army Depot. But five fires broke out as rockets were being sheared at plants in Arkansas
and Oregon. Representatives from the military and other environmental protection agencies
heard from citizens at a meeting last night at the Madison County Extension
Office. Chris Midgett, project manager for Bechtel Parsons, the contractor of the
neutralization plant at Blue Grass Army Depot, said in a presentation the
weapons destruction program had a zero-accident record in its 25 months. Doug Hindman, a member of a citizens' advisory board, said the military
had been receptive to safety concerns. "I don't think we have enough data right now to fully form an opinion"
on the plant, Hindman said. "It's not an emergency situation. We should just
make sure we take enough time to do it safely." Bill Scott, another retired munitions worker from Richmond, said the neutralization
plant was coming "30 years too late." "I don't understand how you can be concerned with something that should
have happened 30 years ago," Scott said. No decision on how to destroy the weapons is expected until next month. Col. George Shuplinkov, a spokesman for the depot's Blue Grass Chemical
Activity, said the military would continue to seek public input. "Everyone involved has been nothing but professional about the seriousness
of this decision," Shuplinkov said. "We've heard the public's questions, and
we want to hear more from them and give them honest answers."