136th Year... and still on the job!	Friday November 11, 2005

Pueblo project gets lion's share of mandated chem demil funding

By JOHN NORTON
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

Work to design a chemical weapons destruction plant is getting the lion's share of more than $111 million of Defense Department money Congress ordered spent this year.

Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., said Wednesday he had received a letter from the Defense Department stating that as of Sept. 8, $96.4 million had been obligated for the stalled program in Pueblo alone. Allard and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., added language to a defense spending bill last May ordering the Pentagon to spend at least $100 million of budgeted funds over the following four months.

The money was not all spent in Pueblo - prime contractor Bechtel has spent about $16 million here so far, not counting salaries. Most of its engineering work is being done at other locations and construction of the facility won't get under way for at least a year.

Chemical demilitarization programs at the two bases, in Pueblo and Blue Grass, Ken., will use water neutralization to break down chemical weapons but the projects were halted last year when Pentagon officials said their costs were going to be too far over budget. The price tags went up after the Defense Department earlier ordered that the programs be accelerated.

Officials of the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternative program and Bechtel embarked on a re-design program last spring to bring the costs back in line with original projections.

Allard said Wednesday he was encouraged by the report. “I’ve been pushing the DOD to move the demilitarization efforts forward at the depot for a long time, and I’m pleased to see that they have responded to the intent of Congress.”

In addition to ordering that $100 million be spent, the language in the bill also protected $372.38 million in unspent funds designated for the destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles at the sites.

“We had waited on the Department of Defense long enough, and I thought it was time for us to take matters in our own hands and write into law what the Congress believes should be done to destroy these chemical weapons stockpiles,” Allard said.

“Now that the Defense Department has responded by obligating a total of $111.8 million dollars to the efforts at Pueblo and Blue Grass, I am hopeful that this shows a renewed commitment by the DOD to destroy these weapons stockpiles.”