136th Year... and
still on the job!
Wednesday October 6,
2004
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136th Year... and
still on the job!
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Wednesday October 6,
2004
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WE’RE CONTINUING to feel like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football. Just when it’s time to give it a good boot, Lucy Van Pelt pulls the ball away.
We’re talking about the chemical demilitarization program at Pueblo Chemical Depot. The Army originally wanted to build an incinerator to get rid of the mustard blister agent stored in shells and cannisters at PCD, and the Army had started advertising for bids when a group of environmentalists got the plan derailed. They finally persuaded the Army to adopt an alternative technology for the chemical destruction.
OK. The enviros won, and it so was our hope that the prime contractor, Bechtel, could get on with the program. But last week the football was yanked away again.
Nine months after telling Bechtel that its design for a chemical weapons destruction facility in Pueblo was going to cost too much, the agency overseeing the project ordered a halt to all design work last week. The Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternative office, which oversees the weapons destruction program here and at several other bases around the country, said it needs time to study alternatives that would reduce the cost. ACWA did say there would be no change in the basic technology of water neutralization followed by biotreatment.
Last week’s order was not expected to affect site preparation now under way or about $110 million in services and equipment going out to bid for the initial stages of the project. So at least there will be some continued movement toward finally destroying the weapons.
Sen. Wayne Allard expressed disappointment that ACWA wants to reduce the size of the facility. The Army had complained about the cost last January and gutted its fiscal 2005 budget allocation.
It was Sen. Allard who stepped in and arranged to get about $50 million of the previously anticipated $151 million restored to the budget. Now, however, the restored funds likely won’t be spent anytime soon.
This whole affair is a classic example of too many cooks spoiling the broth. Had the Army been allowed to proceed with its incineration plan, the work would be ongoing now.
We continue to support Sen. Allard’s effort to see the project kick-started. His effectiveness in Washington is highly valued and highly appreciated.
The Pentagon should remember that the weapons have the potential to pose a homeland security risk. The sooner they’re destroyed, the better. This whole affair is a classic example of too many cooks spoiling the broth. Had the Army been allowed to proceed with its incineration plan, the work would be ongoing now.