for more information contact:
Craig Williams (859) 986 -7565
John Nunn (410) 778 - 5968
for immediate release: Thursday, January 10, 2002
Under a newly-developed accelerated chemical warfare agent disposal program for the stockpile in Aberdeen Maryland, Army officials estimate that the agents will be safely destroyed by the end of this year -- three years ahead of the current schedule and saving taxpayers almost a quarter of a billion dollars. The new approach came out of an evaluation of methods to reduce stockpile risk the Army initiated following the September 11 attacks.
The new plan calls for a three-step process to dispose of the mustard agent that is stored in bulk at Aberdeen: draining the agent from the ton containers; neutralizing the mustard; and shipping the non-agent process wastes to a commercial biological treatment facility. In 1996 the Army agreed to on-site neutralization and biological treatment rather than incineration of Maryland's chemical weapons stockpile -- a decision hailed by local citizens and the Chemical Weapons Working Group. The current accelerated plan eliminates the need for the large complex of buildings called for in the original plan. Instead, the Army will use a much smaller facility which does not include a secondary waste treatment plant.
In making the new program viable, the Army worked closely with
Maryland state officials, the community and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, reaching consensus on an approach that could
be initiated quickly and well within environmental regulations.
Citizens in Maryland agree with the Army's decision to speed
up the disposal process using safe technologies. "I give
them credit for thinking outside the box and we support the accelerated
disposal," commented John Nunn, CWWG member and co-chair
of the Maryland Citizens Advisory Commission.
CWWG spokesperson Craig Williams agreed, "We congratulate
the Army officials for taking risk reduction seriously. It seems
that since Dr. Mario Fiori took over the chemical weapons disposal
program last month, the program is more responsive to the needs
of the affected communities rather than just defending old decisions."
Maryland is the first of the eight stockpile sites to be reviewed for risk reduction by the Army, with the others to be reviewed in the near future, according to Army officials. Over 60% of the national chemical weapons stockpile consists of various agents in ton containers, like those in Maryland. These bulk containers are stored in Oregon, Utah, Alabama, Indiana and Arkansas.
Community groups at other chemical agent stockpile sites are watching the Maryland process with great interest. "If the mustard agent in Maryland can be destroyed in a safe, expeditious, citizen-supported manner, why not all other sites?" asked Williams. "The Army, state and federal regulators need to work to make sure that all stockpile communities have the same opportunities for safe and rapid disposal."
This principle of equal protection for all sites has the CWWG also fully supporting the directive issued last session by Congress, led by Kentucky's Senator Mitch McConnell, to evaluate the approach of weapon disassembly and neutralization on a fast track for stockpile sites containing warfare agents in munitions. According to Army studies and Pentagon safety contingency plans this approach would eliminate the risks from assembled chemical weapons years faster than the Army's incineration plan, now estimated to continue through 2016 at costs exceeding $24 billion. This approach could deal with all the munitions stored in Alabama, Kentucky and Colorado in addition to those stored at sites that also have bulk agent.
"The more the Army engages with citizens towards deploying safe, acceptable and expeditious solutions, the faster the weapons will be destroyed," said Williams. "We look forward to working with the Army, state and federal regulators to build on the consensus model that resulted in the Maryland decision."
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