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Posted on Wed, Sep. 12, 2007
McConnell plan would speed up disposal of chemical weapons at army depot
By Jim Warren
jwarren@herald-leader.com
Two steps in Congress by U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell potentially could speed up the timetable for disposing of thousands of aging and possibly dangerous chemical weapons stored at Blue Grass Army Depot near Richmond.
Under the Defense Department’s current funding profile, disposal of the weapons at Richmond would not begin until 2017 and wouldn’t be completed until 2023.
McConnell, though, said Wednesday that the Senate Appropriations Committee has adopted his proposal to set a 2017 deadline for completing the disposal of all chemical weapons in the U.S. arsenal, including those at Richmond. The proposed deadline was approved as an amendment to the Fiscal 2008 Defense Appropriations Bill.
McConnell said the appropriations committee also has approved his request for $89.5 million for several defense-related projects in Kentucky during fiscal 2008, including $28 million for research and development on the plant that will be built at the Richmond depot to dispose of the chemical weapons there.
Both items need full congressional approval. If they pass, the weapons at Richmond could be gone six years earlier than now projected, said Craig Williams, executive director of the Berea-based Chemical Weapons Working Group, which backs chemical disposal of the weapons.
“The senator’s proposals would direct and force by law getting the disposal work done by 2017 and provide funding to support that schedule,” Williams said Wednesday. “That’s very important for us here in Kentucky.”
For two decades, the Army has been exploring ways to get rid of 523 tons of nerve and mustard agent that have been stored in small rockets and artillery shells at the Richmond depot. Some of the projectiles have been there since the 1950s.
Leaks from some projectiles have been detected periodically over the years, but no one has ever been hurt. Nevertheless, Army officials agree that the aging weapons pose a risk for the surrounding area and must be destroyed.
In early 2003, after years of debate, the Army selected chemical neutralization as the safest method for getting rid of the weapons. The project was halted five months later, however, when the Pentagon shifted funding.
Almost five years later, a chemical neutralization plant still hasn’t been built at the depot, although site preparation work has been done and officials plan to pour concrete for the plant foundation in early 2008.
Reach Jim Warren at (859) 231-3255 or 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 3255.