Depot plant on track to destroy
weapons
FEDERAL REVIEW OF AIR QUALITY PERMIT IS LAST
STEP
By
Peter Mathews
CENTRAL KENTUCKY BUREAU
RICHMOND - A $2 billion plant that will be built to destroy chemical weapons at Blue Grass Army Depot has cleared its last major regulatory hurdle.
The plant has been granted a proposed air quality permit by the state Division for Air Quality, officials announced yesterday.
"It's a critical and significant milestone in the effort to rid ourselves of these weapons," said Craig Williams, director of the Berea-based Chemical Weapons Working Group.
Last Friday, the state Division of Waste Management approved a research, development and demonstration permit for the plant.
Together, the permits mean that contractor Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass can proceed with construction, provided the federal government comes through with money to pay for it.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency has 45 days to review the air permit and submit comments before the state can issue a final permit.
"We can't say it's a formality, but we expect it to be awarded," said Mickey Morales, spokesman for Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass.
Because of the cooperation among the numerous agencies involved in the project and advantages offered by the plant's chemical neutralization technology, it took only 19 months to obtain the permits, Williams said. That's the fastest approval any U.S. plant has received.
The beginning of the project in Madison County, which involves the harvesting of trees so an access road and security gate can be constructed, could begin this month.
The plant is being redesigned to make it less costly; the intermediate stage of design, which will permit construction of the plant to begin, is due May 30.
The funding question won't be resolved until defense appropriations bills are completed in November or December, said Depot spokesman Dave Easter.
The project has enough money for work to continue for about a year.
The research, development and demonstration permit enables the plant to process the nerve agent GB, one of the three chemical weapons stored at the depot. That permit will have to be modified before the rest of the stockpile can be destroyed.