Pine Bluff Commercial
October 10, 2003

Pine Bluff officials discuss arsenal at Pentagon

Friday, Oct 10, 2003
By Alison Vekshin

WASHINGTON -- Pine Bluff leaders Thursday received recommendations from Pentagon officials on keeping the Pine Bluff Arsenal viable as the Defense Department prepares for the next round of base closures.

Aware the arsenal could be a target of the closures, five members of the Economic Development Alliance of Jefferson County and White Hall Mayor James Morgan highlighted the arsenal's assets during a series of meetings at the Pentagon.

Jim Crider, the alliance's president, said they inquired about bringing new missions to the arsenal and were offered some suggestions. Crider said he could not elaborate on the recommendations.

"We've got our homework to do," he said. "We are competing with other areas to make sure that our own post is not closed."

Gen. Paul Kern of the Army Materiel Command told the group that the department is downsizing and exploring ways to outsource some of its functions to private industry, Crider said.

"We were cautioned that the Department of Defense is changing and there are no guarantees," Crider said. "The real difference maker is the fact that we are on their radar scope."

The criteria used to identify bases for closure will be released as early as April 2004, with the bases to be identified in 2005, Army spokesman Maj. Gary Tallman said.

"We got to make sure that the Pentagon is aware as to the existence and significance of the Pine Bluff Arsenal to the evolving mission of the Department of Defense," Crider said.

The arsenal's white phosphorus facility, the only one of its kind in the country, and its production of chemical warfare equipment were among the features touted by the Pine Bluff delegation.

The arsenal pumps about $173 million annually into the local economy through jobs and contracts, Crider noted.

The Pine Bluff group spent Wednesday on Capitol Hill in a series of meetings with Arkansas federal lawmakers and their staff. They met with Reps. Mike Ross, D-Prescott, John Boozman, R-Rogers, Marion Berry, D-Gillett, and Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock.

They asked members to help maintain current federal funding levels for the arsenal's Clara Barton Center for Domestic Preparedness and to work to prevent the arsenal's closure.

"Essentially, the entire delegation is committed to the future of the arsenal," Crider said.

In addition to arsenal support, they asked lawmakers to back pending legislation deepening the McClellan-Kerr Navigation System. The waterway is a series of locks and dams that steer traffic from Tulsa to the Mississippi River.



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