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The Pueblo Chieftain & Star Journal 138th Year... and still on the job!
Monday March 26, 2007

Bechtel plans programs for weapons destruction

By JOHN NORTON
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

With funding for chemical weapons destruction here pretty much assured for the rest of the year, Bechtel plans a number of projects in the coming months.

Valerie McCain, deputy program manager for the multi-national contractor, outlined plans for members of the Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Citizens Advisory Commission at the group's regular meeting last week.

McCain said that as of the end of February, Bechtel had spent $55 million on the project and of that $22.4 million went to Pueblo County businesses. Another $15.9 million was spent with other Colorado firms and $16.7 million with suppliers outside the state.

The Bechtel Pueblo Team currently includes 198 people, 113 in Pueblo, 32 in San Francisco and 53 in Frederick, Md.

McCain said that the San Francisco office was shrinking as more people are added to the Pueblo work force and of the contingent working here, 20 were locally hired, she said.

John Klomp, chairman of the commission, asked about the operational staff and McCain said that hiring of those people is about four to five years out. She said that because of the latest spending restrictions, about $150 million annually on the program, the total operational staff has been reduced to a total of about 700 from the 1,200 originally projected, but that those people will be working longer because the program will have to be extended.

McCain also reported a pair of recent awards, a $4.9 million contract with Pueblo's K.R. Swerdfeger for underground utilities and a $3.8 million deal with Guarantee Electrical Contracting of Aurora for construction power, lighting and communications.

She said that construction workers are using the "northwest passage," the new access from the Department of Transportation Road to the demilitarization site, and the road will be used by workers this spring.

Along with that, the commission got an update from Pueblo County Public Works Director Greg Severance on the Defense Access Road project.

An umbrella term, the DAR actually covers improvements along DOT Road, United Avenue, William White Boulevard and Colorado 47 and the extension of William White to the state highway, giving the airport industrial park a long-needed second access point.

Severance said that thanks to work by the area’Äôs congressional delegation, the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program manager, Mike Parker, was able to release extra funds to cover part of a cost overrun.

The higher cost, $6.3 million over the $18.6 million the job was supposed to cost, was caused by a three-year delay while an environmental assessment was prepared, he said. Klomp pointed out that the Defense Department and the Army tried to exempt the project from the study, but failed.

As it turned out, there were no environmental problems found and no public protests, Severance said.

Severance explained that Parker was able to authorize another $860,000 to fund work slated for this summer on the William White extension and DOT Road improvements and that he hoped the ACWA manager could OK money for future phases. If not, he said that Congress would be asked to approve the spending.

"I can’Äôt thank Senator (Wayne) Allard’Äôs staff enough," Severance said, for the help the county got in getting the funds approved.

PROJECT BIDS

Among upcoming projects for which the company will be seeking bids are: