136th Year... and
still on the job!
Thursday February 10,
2005
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136th Year... and
still on the job!
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Thursday February 10,
2005
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Colorado's U.S. senators have told the Defense Department once again that they want work to get started right away on destruction of weapons stored at the Pueblo Chemical Depot.
On Wednesday, Sens. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., and Ken Salazar, D-Colo., sent a letter to Undersecretary of Defense Michael Wynne urging him to begin construction on the Pueblo Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant.
Last month, the Defense Department ordered all construction work stopped here while it studied alternatives to on-site destruction.
The senators and 3rd District Rep. John Salazar have already introduced bills in both houses to block funding for the study, but the Defense Department is continuing with it anyway. That bill is currently before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Allard was especially upset that the $50 million that he got restored to the Pueblo project in this year's budget is frozen. "We just want to make sure that we don't lose this $50 million and free it up so we can get something started at the depot.
“It is unconscionable to me that the Department of Defense wants to delay this project when the Congress has provided ample funding during the past two appropriations cycles,” Allard said. “Further delay will not only increase the eventual cost of destroying the chemical munitions at the depot, but will also jeopardize our ability to meet international treaty obligations and the safety of Pueblo’s citizens.”
Sen. Salazar added, “The people of Pueblo deserve better than to be strung along like this. The funding is available right now to fulfill the commitment to the people of Pueblo and ensure the safe and expedient destruction of these chemical munitions Ñ it makes no sense for the Department of Defense to continue to stall any longer than they already have.”
Allard said that he would try to block any attempts by the Defense Department to shift funds from Pueblo to other areas. Critics have charged that the Defense Department is trying to use the funds for water neutralization projects in Pueblo and the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky to cover cost overruns at incinerators it built in other states.
“You can be certain that we will oppose any attempt to shift this funding to other chemical weapons demilitarization sites,” Allard said. “We will need every dollar, and then some, to complete this project without further delays.”
And Salazar said, “We remain fully committed to quickly and safely moving forward with destruction of chemical agents on-site at the Pueblo chemical weapons stockpile and we will keep a careful watch on and closely review any decision to re-allocate funding already identified for that purpose."