Contact: Angela de Rocha
(202) 224-5944
For Release: January
25, 2005
SENATORS ALLARD, SALAZAR TO INTRODUCE
LEGISLATION
PREVENTING FEASIBILITY STUDY OF RELOCATION OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS FROM DEPOT
Defense Department would be stopped
from studying feasibility of moving weapons
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U. S. Senator
Wayne Allard (R-Colorado) said he plans to introduce legislation Wednesday
that would prevent the Department of Defense from spending money on a study
on the feasibility of transporting the chemical munitions at the Pueblo Chemical
Depot to another site out of state to be destroyed, and U.S. Senator Ken Salazar
(D-Colorado) has agreed to co-sponsor that legislation. The Pentagon's Chemical
Materials Agency announced commencement of the study on Wednesday, January
19.
"It is extremely disturbing to
me that the Pentagon would study the possibility of relocating the Pueblo's
chemical weapon stockpile after the Pentagon assured Senator Salazar and myself
last week that such an option was unrealistic, not to mention illegal," Senator
Allard said.
"Studying whether to relocate the
stockpile is an incredible waste of time and scarce defense dollars. The money
should be used to help pay for the rising cost of disposing of these weapons,
not a meaningless intellectual exercise," added Senator Allard.
"We believe we were given a good
faith commitment last week that the destruction of the weapons would continue
at Pueblo using the water neutralization technology agreed upon and that the
munitions would not be transferred elsewhere," Senator Salazar said.
"While we wait for the promised clarification on these matters, Senator Allard
and I believe it is necessary to emphasize our resolve. This legislation
helps provide that emphasis."
Two Pentagon officials met with
Senators Allard and Salazar on January 18 to discuss the department's decision
to delay the destruction of the chemical weapons stockpile at Pueblo.
The Senators were reassured at that meeting that the chemical weapons would
not be transported out of Colorado.
But the next day the Department
of Defense said it would conduct a three-month study on the feasibility of
transporting the stockpiles out of Colorado, Kentucky and Indiana to operational
sites in other states, at a cost of nearly $150,000, despite the fact that
the Department of Defense has conducted three similar studies over the last
two decades which concluded such a plan would be impractical. Currently,
it is against the law to transport chemical munitions across state lines.
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