138th Year... and still on the job!	Saturday Febuary 16, 2008

Salazar, Udall don't want hydrolysate leaving Pueblo


By JOHN NORTON
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

Three members of Colorado’s Congressional delegation want to make sure the wastes from the destruction of chemical weapons here don’t leave the Pueblo Chemical Depot.

Democrats Sen. Ken Salazar and Reps. John Salazar and Mark Udall introduced a bill Friday that would prohibit the secretary of defense from shipping hydrolysate at the Pueblo Chemical Depot off-site for treatment.

Mustard agent hydrolysate is the diluted waste from the water neutralization process that will break down the 2,611 tons of the poison stored at the local base.

Defense Department officials have indicated a preference for shipping it off-site for treatment, claiming it will save $150 million.

However, a Colorado citizens advisory panel supports treating it at Pueblo Chemical Depot, claiming that the Pentagon is not considering other costs.

The Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Citizens Advisory Commission has gone on record opposing off-site treatment. The commission members’ main concern is that other states and regions could oppose the shipments, causing expensive delays in the process here, which already is well behind schedule. They also have warned that other areas will demand funds to deal with possible accidents, something not considered when the projected cost savings were developed.

The citizens advisory commission favors building a small sewer plant that would use bacteria to break down the caustic waste and then recycle the water back through the neutralization facility. That also was in the original plan, which has been revised over the past few years.

Off-site treatment would mean shipping an estimated 8.4 million gallons of the hazardous material out of Pueblo County to a still undetermined processing plant. Pentagon officials say that the liquid is no more dangerous than diluted drain cleaner, but the commission members worry that because it came from mustard agent, other jurisdictions might not find that reassuring.

Bechtel, the prime contractor for the program here, is working on designs that would include either biotreatment or a terminal for shipping. A decision is expected this summer from the Defense Department on which option will be used.
The lawmakers pointed out that two separate reports commissioned by the Pentagon have indicated that shipping hydrolysate off-site for neutralization could delay the completion of chemical weapons destruction at Pueblo.

Sen. Salazar said Friday: “By moving ahead with on-site treatment of hydrolysate, DOD will be better able to meet its legal obligation to complete chemical weapons destruction by 2017. This step will also provide some certainty to the communities that have waited so long for these chemical weapons to be safely destroyed.

“I will continue to work to ensure that the DOD puts adequate resources behind its obligations to destroy the chemical weapons stored at the Pueblo Chemical Depot as safely and expeditiously as possible.”

Udall, a candidate to succeed Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., added, “The Pueblo community has already waited too long for destruction of these chemical weapons.

“The community and the Army have agreed on the plan to be followed, which includes doing the whole job on-site. The point of this bill is to make sure that plan is followed. That will benefit the Pueblo community by creating more jobs and benefit the country by avoiding the risks that would come with any shipment of these materials.”

Rep. Salazar also expressed his concern over delays.

“The citizens of Pueblo have seen delays and deadlines come and go at the Pueblo Chemical Depot. I will work with my colleagues to stand firm on the 2017 deadline and to assure the entire job is done in Pueblo and nothing is shipped off-site,” he said.

Congressional intervention is not new for the weapons destruction program. The Salazars and Allard, along with Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., successfully have had their fellow lawmakers push up the deadline for completion of the work here and at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, and have authorized additional money to speed up the work.