Pueblo Chieftain
September 17, 2003

A rational decision

EDITORIAL
The Pueblo Chieftain

THE ARMY has decided the second stage of demilitarizing mustard munitions at Pueblo Chemical Depot should be done at the depot and not some far away site.

In a letter to the Citizens Advisory Commission, Michael A. Parker, program manager for the Army's Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (ACWA), says he agrees with the community's recommendation that the second stage of the destruction program be done in Pueblo, instead of sending tank cars full of possibly hazardous liquid to another facility. Only the explosive propellants for the artillery shells and storage pallets are to be taken away to other sites.

As a result of the decision, the demilitarization process will add at least 40 more jobs and $80 million more in government spending in the community.

Originally, Army officials recommended that only the initial stage of the destruction be done here, claiming that the ACWA program would save millions by shipping the liquid from that stage to another plant. However, that so-called savings estimate did not factor in the estimated $10 million cost of shipping or costs from delays if a destination community balked at receiving the waste product.

That product is the result of the first stage of the process to be used. Mustard agent from artillery shells and rockets is removed and mixed with large amounts of water and caustics.

Then, microorganisms are added to create sludge from which water can be extracted and treated.

The Citizens Advisory Commission, under the chairmanship of Pueblo County Commissioner John Klomp, worked hard to persuade the Army to keep the second stage of the program here. Its efforts are appreciated.

For years, we had hoped the way could be found to ship the munitions to Tooele Chemical Depot in Utah where mustard and nerve agents are being demilitarized. But now that we are going to have an alternative technology destroy the weapons at the Pueblo depot, it is only proper that the entire job be done on site.

It’s probably going to take a decade to get the job done, so the sooner it gets under way, the better.