AROUND KENTUCKY
BILL MAY AID WEAPONS
DESTRUCTION
Congress has approved the 2006 Defense Appropriations Bill, which includes
an amendment making it possible for money allocated for the Assembled Chemical
Weapons Alternatives Program to be used for construction of chemical weapons
destruction plants. Previously, $33 million for ACWA facilities in Kentucky
and Colorado had been restricted to use for research and development, as
requested by the Department of Defense.
Freeing money for construction means that groundbreaking at the two sites should occur sometime in 2006, according to a news release from the Berea-based Chemical Weapons Working Group. Under an international treaty, the United States has until April 2012 to destroy its chemical weapons stockpile. That includes the 523 tons of nerve and blister agent stored at Blue Grass Army Depot in Madison County, where the neutralization plant will be built. The amendment also provides $20 million in additional funds for ACWA.