138th Year... and still on the job!	Tuesday September 12, 2006

Senate OKs $215 million for weapons destruction

Funding will go to Pueblo and Kentucky depots over next 12 months

By JOHN NORTON
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

The U.S. Senate has passed a defense appropriations bill that will provide $215.9 million over the next 12 months for continued development of processes to destroy chemical weapons at the Pueblo Chemical Depot and the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky.

The bill now goes to a conference committee for reconciliation with the House version, which provided the same amount for the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternative program.

Both facilities have stockpiles of chemical weapons that will be destroyed through a water neutralization method, supported by environmental groups.

The Pueblo Chemical Depot houses 780,000 aging artillery shells and mortar rounds that contain a total of 2,611 tons of mustard agent.

Craig Williams, director of the Chemical Weapons Working Group, said, ’ÄúWith the House in concurrence, this is money we can count on to continue with the efforts here in Kentucky and in Colorado.’Äù

The CWWG was a leader in getting legislation requiring the Army to use water neutralization at the two sites instead of incineration.

A separate military construction bill awaits Senate approval and is crucial to continued construction of the weapons destruction plants at the two locations.

Major work on the Pueblo facility is expected to get under way next fall. Roads and ground preparation already is being done.

The Senate version of the construction bill contains $150.9 million for the projects, which is $10 million more than what was requested by the Pentagon.

’ÄúObviously we support the Senate version and appreciate Sen. (Mitch) McConnell’Äôs (R-Ky.) leadership on behalf of both sites,’Äù Williams said, ’ÄúThe collective effort between himself and the rest of the Kentucky and Colorado congressional delegations will have a direct impact on when these weapons are destroyed.’Äù

Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., praised the Senate approval the defense appropriations bill.

’ÄúOver the last year, the Defense Department has made every effort to try to get the project back on track. It was time for Congress to step up to the plate and provide the necessary funding,’Äù he said.

Last year, the Defense Department halted work on both projects, citing rising cost estimates driven by its own earlier order to accelerate the program after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Allard, Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., and McConnell applied pressure on the Pentagon to get the projects going again while ACWA officials and Bechtel, the primary contractor, worked to develop lower-cost plans.

The new designs won the approval of a new undersecretary of defense, Kenneth Krieg.

More than a year ago, Krieg fired Pat Wakefield, the deputy who had halted work on the two projects. Officials said that the firing was not related to the dispute over the chemical weapons program.

Wakefield went to work for a consulting firm that advises the Pentagon. According to a Washington Post obituary, he died three weeks ago, apparently of a heart problem.