Editorial
Published: May 17, 2009
Getting it done
PUEBLO CHEMICAL Depot has a firm commitment for increased funding and employment for on-site biological treatment of the waste product from the destruction of chemical weapons stored there.
Jean Reed, Army deputy assistant for chemical demilitarization, told The Chieftain last week that $250 million has been added to the Department of Defense budget, bringing the program amount to $545.2 million.
"The money will be used to increase labor costs," he said. "Actual destruction operations in Pueblo will start in the fourth quarter of 2014 and conclude in the fourth quarter of 2017, with the work being done 24/7."
The timetable would meet a congressional deadline for completing the project in 2017.
A previous 2020 completion date was accelerated by the program's decision to have waste product - called hydrolysate - treated biologically at the Pueblo depot, rather than ship it out for treatment in another state. The Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond, Ky., which is also in the program, will begin destruction of chemical weapons there in 2019 and complete it in 2021, according to the Army.
Pueblo Chemical Depot has a stockpile of 780,000 artillery shells and mortar rounds containing a total of 2,611 tons of mustard agent.
The increased defense funding and the commitment to on-site bio-treatment are good news for Pueblo.