138th Year... and still on the job!	Tuesday April 18, 2006

A Pentagon official overseeing the destruction of the nation's chemical weapons stockpile assured a Pueblo crowd and Sen. Wayne Allard Monday night that his office supported continued funding for the program here.

Dale Klein, assistant to the secretary of defense for nuclear and chemical and biological defense programs, was part of a high-powered panel at a meeting of the Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Citizens' Advisory Commission at the Pueblo Convention Center.

The group of state and local officials and area citizens oversees the federal government's plans to destroy the stockpile of mustard agent weapons stored at the Pueblo Chemical Depot.

Allard, R-Colo., who has been a longtime supporter for efforts to get the program moving again, said he and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had sent a letter to Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Kenneth Krieg, to make the same commitment to continued funding for the program.

Allard said he was optimistic, explaining, "We are in a completely different place than we were a year ago."

At that time, he said, "I believe that the Department of Defense was going to put the depot here in a caretaker status. I was astounded at the department's disregard for the safety of this community."

While saying he and McConnell had been successful in getting funding moving again and it appeared that the Defense Department was willing to continue that, he said, "I am somewhat apprehensive about the future."

McConnell's state is home to the Blue Grass Army Depot where weapons are to be destroyed in a method similar to that planned for Pueblo. The two senators wrote in their letter, "We want to make sure that DoD toes the line on these chemical weapons demilitarization projects. And we also are expecting the Department to provide us with a detailed schedule for the work and completion of the Pueblo project, the Blue Grass project in Kentucky, and all the other demilitarization sites in general.

"The kind of reassurance we are looking for is for the department to come through with a substantial future funding request this summer, then I will feel a lot better about this project and the department's commitment to it."

Mike Parker, director of the Chemicals Materials Agency and program manager for the work planned for Pueblo and Blue Grass, said he expected Krieg would approve the project redesign in August. "Undersecretary Krieg is committed to fully funding both Pueblo and Blue Grass," he said.

Parker said that the design appears to fit into the cost guidelines the Defense Department wants, saying that funding needs and design have come together and "I think we've found the sweet spot." However, he added the Defense Department would continue to look for ways to do the project economically. "If we simply try to hold the line on costs, we'll just see costs grow," he warned.

CAC members made it clear they still supported an original plan to treat the watery byproduct of the destruction process on-site rather than shipping it off to another facility.

Shipping the water, a caustic, hazardous waste called hydrolysate, to another facility was one of the cost-saving cuts made in the original plan but CAC members have contended protests in other communities opposed to the shipments will make off-site treatment a problem and could wind up causing delays for Pueblo's work.

CAC member Ross Vincent said both shipping out the hydrolysate and the explosives used to propel and blast the artillery shells and mortar rounds are two mistakes the government is contemplating. "It's going to be more difficult than people think," he said. "Those two issues could be major red flags down the road."

Parker said off-site treatment of hydrolysate had been done successfully with the bulk mustard agent destruction that recently finished at the Aberdeen (Md.) Proving Ground. "It was transported by almost 1,000 truckloads across three states free of any incidents," Parker said.

"There are certain risks associated with on-site treatment that need to be acknowledged," he added. Parker warned the proposal to treat the hydrolysate with bacteria at the depot and recycle the water was a new technology and could bring delays of its own. "There's no free lunch here and if I've given you the impression that on-site is going to be free of any cost and schedule risk, that is untrue."

Bechtel officials have developed cost estimates for on-site and off-site hydrolysate treatment and submitted those numbers to the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternative program officials.

And when Paul Henry, Bechtel's deputy program manager for the Pueblo project showed an animated flyover of the planned facility, it included an on-site hydrolysate bio-treatment system.

Henry also presented an update on the company's work and spending so far.

The $15.6 million access road and control point that will give the chemical depot a new entryway is under construction. The road, leading from the county's DOT Road that runs from the airport industrial park, is 38 percent complete, fencing is 85 percent complete and a new guard station is 12 percent complete.

Henry said bids are due May 8 for site grading and underground utilities at the demilitarization facility site with construction expected to start in summer.

As of last week, Bechtel had awarded $ 28.4 million in contracts, $11.9 million to businesses in Pueblo County, $7.9 million to other Colorado businesses and $8.6 million to businesses outside Colorado.

Upcoming projects and purchases include site preparation earthwork and storm sewers, underground utilities, fire hydrants, field erected tanks, pressure vessels, facilities construction certification services, a closed circuit TV system, valve and pump packages, metal building systems, mechanical equipment, electrical equipment and water treatment systems.