138th Year... and still on the job!	Tuesday June 6, 2006

Watchdog agency says $40 million in cuts would wind up $220 million expense over the long term.

Citing what it acknowledged was an "unofficial" internal Pentagon document, a watchdog agency has charged that plans to cut funding next year for chemical weapons destruction will cost taxpayers more than five times as much as the government will save.

The Chemical Weapons Working Group said that the House of Representatives' version of next year's defense budget, which cuts $40 million from projects in Pueblo and Kentucky, will wind up costing $220 million over the long term.

The House bill would substantially reduce the amount of money that could by used at the Pueblo Chemical Depot and the Blue Grass Army Depot where the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternative program plans to destroy the weapons.

Pueblo's stockpile contains 2,611 tons of mustard gas that will be broken down through water neutralization.

According to CWWG Director Craig Williams, the document confirms his statement on May 17 that "Ultimately what may be seen as a short-term cost-savings by the House will result in the increase in actual expenditures over the life of the project as schedules are extended."

The document states: "Including all costs associated with storing the stockpiles in Pueblo and Blue Grass for an additional year, the total cost impact to (the Defense Department) would be nearly $220 million."

The Senate has not begun work on its version, but Sens. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., and Ken Salazar, D-Colo., along with Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have pledged to keep the money in the upper house's version. Allard also serves on the conference committee that will reconcile the two bills.

The senators had fought a two-year battle with the Defense Department to free funding for the projects and work has been continuing on plant design and site preparation.

"It appears that the Pentagon finally recognizes the need for adequate funding and now it is the Congress that is missing the point," said Williams. "Hopefully in the near future everyone will 'get it' at the same time, so we won't be dealing with this sort of problem every fiscal year," he said.

Williams said the Pentagon document is internal and has not been released to the public, nor has it been transmitted to Congressional members.

However, he said, "We felt it important to share the information with House members as soon as possible so they can appreciate the impact of their proposed cuts on communities and the U.S. obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention Treaty. Hopefully they will rethink their ill-conceived cuts."