136th Year... and still on the job!	Wednesday May 18, 2005

Trust, but verify

THERE APPEARS to be bureaucratic wrangling over control of the chemical weapons destruction program at Pueblo Chemical Depot, and Rep. John Salazar is pledging to keep a close eye on developments.

Rep. Salazar reports that the Army approached him directly with information that the Pentagon wants the job under the direct oversight of the Army, rather than the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternative program, or ACWA. ACWA has been the agency favored by local critics of the Army, which originally planned to build an incinerator to demilitarize the weapons.

Rep. Salazar, taking note of recent developments in Congress to get the work back on track after numerous delays, said the Army’s track record warrants close monitoring to see that nothing else gets derailed. It was this long series of delays which earlier this month prompted Congress to approve provisions in a supplemental budget bill that included $327 million and explicit language requiring the Pentagon to destroy the weapons at Pueblo and the Blue Grass Chemical Depot in Kentucky. This week the Senate Armed Services Committee added $20 million.

The demilitarization provision was co-sponsored by Colorado’s two senators, Wayne Allard and Ken Salazar, and Rep. Salazar.

Ross Vincent, a member of the local Citizens Advisory Commission and a supporter of ACWA, is wary of having the Army take direct control of the project. The Army may realize it needs to mend fences, because Rep. Salazar made a point of noting that the Army volunteered the information that the Pentagon now wants that military branch to be in direct control.

Rep. Salazar has sized up the situation quickly since his House induction in January. We are pleased that he has given the chemical depot his considerable attention.

We also would encourage the congressional delegation to press the Pentagon to do all of the demilitarization work here. There has been some discussion of perhaps shipping explosives and the neutralized mustard agent Ñ known as hydrolysate Ñ off site for final destruction at other plants.

It's estimated that such transfers would mean the loss of about 200 jobs that otherwise would be created at Pueblo Chemical Depot. But at what cost?

The Pentagon is looking at one cost factor, though. Last week officials said they may use some recycled parts from a similar system that has finished its work at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland. If that could be a net savings to taxpayers, we’re all for it.

Delays and mismanagement have skyrocketed the cost of destroying this nation’s chemical weapons. The sooner the job gets done, the better.