A deputy to the Assistant Defense Secretary said the proposed on-site facility to destroy the weapons would cost a billion dollars more than the government could afford. Construction is on hold while all of the options are examined. Those options include reducing the facility's size or transporting the chemicals out of the state for destruction.

The second plan would require a change to federal law. It would also hurt the local economy, so it is a choice Pueblo residents said they do not want. "Certainly transportation is one that they do not want to take place," said Patrick Wakefield with the U.S. Dept. of Defense. "I think their major message is they would like the facility to continue on and begin construction."

The Defense Department wants to make a decision by the end of April. The weapons will have to be destroyed, regardless of the method, by 2012 in compliance with a treaty.