138th Year... and still on the job!	Wednesday Febuary 20, 2008

We can do it


EDITORIAL
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

AT LEAST three members of Colorado’s congressional delegation want the Army to process wastes from the destruction of mustard munitions at Pueblo Chemical Depot at the depot, rather than shipping them off-site.

Last week, Sen. Ken Salazar and Reps. John Salazar and Mark Udall introduced legislation that would prohibit the Department of Defense from shipping hydrolysate from the depot to another facility for final treatment. Mustard agent hydrolysate is the diluted waste from the water neutralization process that will break down the 2,611 tons of the blister agent stored in concrete igloos at PCD.

Defense officials have indicated a preference for shipping the waste off-site for treatment, claiming that would save $150 million. However, other cities, counties or states could stall shipment through their jurisdictions to some treatment site.

Additionally, other sites may not want PCD’s waste. For example, plants in New Jersey and Texas have declined to process hydrolysates from a chemical weapons plant in Indiana.

In light of all this, the Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Citizens Advisory Commission is on record as opposing off-site treatment. The commission notes that other areas would demand federal funds to deal with possible accidents, either raising the cost of the project directly or because of further delays to a program that’s already been delayed for 15 years.

These factors are part of the NIMBY syndrome - Not In My Back Yard. We’d point out to the Pentagon that the chemical munitions at PCD are “in our backyard” and we in Pueblo have managed to live with them for more than a half century without alarm or fear.

The advisory commission suggests building a small sewer plant that would use bacteria to break down the hydrolysate and recycle the water back through the neutralization facility. That was part of the original plan.

Besides keeping the waste - and the jobs associated with their treatment - here, this also would save water, something that would be beneficial in this water-short part of the country.

We urge Congress to pass the legislation introduced last week. The entire job of chemical weapons destruction at Pueblo Chemical Depot can and should be done at PCD.