INTERNAL DEFENSE DOCUMENTS SHOW
CHEM-WEAPONS INCINERATORS WILL BURN FOR AN ADDITIONAL 9-11 YEARS
Local Army Spokespeople Continue to Mislead Communities About Schedule
Internal Department of Defense documents,
dated 13 April and released today by the Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG),
show chemical weapons incinerators operating well beyond the 2012 extended
deadline required by International Treaty. Although a 10 April memo
from Secretary Rumsfeld confirmed missing the 2012 deadline, specific schedule
projections had not been revealed until now.
The documents show the following operational completion
dates for the four U.S. incinerators: Arkansas - 1st Qtr. 2016; Utah - 1st
Qtr. 2016; Alabama - 4th Qtr. 2016; and,Oregon - 3rd Qtr. 2017. The
original projected completion date for all sites, presented to Congress in
1985, was 1994.
CWWG Director, Craig Williams said, "With each new
schedule projection, it becomes more and more obvious that incineration is
not the 'mature, robust and reliable' technology the Army promised to communities
back in the 80s."
"And given the risks associated with incineration and
longer storage periods, the Army should be obligated to share accurate information
with affected residents," Williams continued. "Instead, local Army spokespeople
continue to give out erroneous schedule projections. Just yesterday, an Army
spokesperson at the Alabama site declared, after an accident there Monday,
that the incinerator is still 'on track' to finish its work by 2010. That's
six years sooner than the official projection."
Similar claims have been made recently at other burn
sites. "When Army spokespeople mislead communities about incinerator schedules,
residents can only wonder what else they aren't being told--for instance,
information about leaks and other safety and environmental violations," Williams
said.
In March of this year over sixty organizations signed
a letter requesting specific information be provided to Alabama citizens
regarding operations at that incinerator. No formal response has been issued
to date.
At four other stockpile sites citizens were successful
in demanding alternatives to incineration. Neutralization of Maryland's stockpile
has been completed and Indiana's stockpile is projected to be neutralized
by early 2012. The Kentucky and Colorado neutralization facilities
are slated to begin construction later this year. Although no official completion
dates are noted for these two sites in the documents released today, Army
officials in charge of those sites predict completion in late 2014 or early
2015.
In addition to the information on schedule, the latest
Defense documents also peg the current cost of the disposal program at over
$32 billion. The original cost was projected to be $1.85 billion.
--30--
Copies of the documents will be provided by the CWWG upon request.
