State

---

Posted on Fri. Aug. 25, 2006

DEMILITARIZATION PLANTS SHARE MONEY

Chemical demilitarization plants at Blue Grass Army Depot in Madison County and in Pueblo, Colo., will share $300 million each year over the next five years, the Army announced yesterday.

The numbers, which emerged from a meeting of the Pentagon's Defense Acquisition Board, are "most welcome and reassuring," said Craig Williams, director of the Berea-based Chemical Weapons Working Group, which helped fight Pentagon efforts to cut funding for the facilities two years ago.

Groundbreaking for a $2 billion plant that will chemically neutralize the depot's stockpile of nerve and blister agent is scheduled for Oct. 28. Construction of roads and utilities has already begun.