138th Year... and still on the job!	Thursday November 15, 2007

Sky's the limit

EDITORIAL
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAN

SELDOM DOES an opportunity for education come along as big as the destruction of mustard munitions at Pueblo Chemical Depot.

Yes. The project is providing a wonderful chance for Colorado State University-Pueblo, Pueblo Community College and the two public school systems to prepare students for a panoply of good-paying jobs.

Last week the Senate gave final approval to a $471 billion budget bill to pay for Pentagon programs, sending it to President Bush for his signature. Included in this measure is a $142 million appropriation to continue chemical demilitarization work at PCD.

The new Defense Authorization Act orders the Department of Defense to complete the destruction of the mustard agent weapons at the depot, as well as other chemical weapons stored at arsenals around the nation, within 10 years. That would speed up the Pentagon's timeline by several years.

With this timeline in place, it will be necessary for an annual budget allocation of at least $150 million a year to complete the job at PCD. The Defense Access Road from Colorado 47 through the Memorial Airport Industrial Park to its juncture with the DOT Road is now being constructed, meaning the heavy lifting at the depot is just around the corner.

Which leads to the opportunity for the local educational institutions to prepare students for the myriad job opportunities over the next decade and beyond. There will be need for chemists, engineering specialists, financial people and other professions as well as various blue-collar trades.

Bechtel, the international contractor which is overseeing the project, is on the lookout for people with various skills. It's basically a seller's market for those who prepare themselves.

And when this work is done, those people will have both skills and experience which will carry them to the next step in their careers. Before it won the contract, Bechtel officials said the company would work to transition this community to a post-demil economy.

So, in this corner, it appears the sky's the limit for young people in Pueblo and the region.