for more information contact:
Craig Williams 859-986-7565
(cell) 859-302-1103
for immediate release July 16, 2002
"The next critical step for safe disposal," is what Kentucky supporters of non-incineration methods call an amendment Senator Mitch McConnell successfully got attached to the 2003 Defense Spending Bill today. McConnell's amendment will prevent the Army's incineration office from managing any non-incineration technology chosen to destroy the chemical weapons stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot.
Sen. McConnell was joined by Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO) in moving forward with a law that mandates management of stockpile disposal in both states (CO and KY) by the Assembled Chemical Weapons Assessment Program (ACWA). ACWA is the Department of Defense office which identified and proved the viability of non-incineration methods for destruction of all chemical weapons.
The Bill reads, in part, "If a technology other than the baseline incineration program is selected for the destruction of lethal chemical munitions...the program manager for the Assembled Chemical Weapons Assessment (ACWA) shall be responsible for management of the construction, operation and closure, and any contracting relating thereto, of chemical demilitarization activities at Bluegrass Army Depot, Kentucky, including management of the pilot-scale facility phase of the alternative technology."
Weapons disposal watchdog groups praised the move by McConnell saying that he has once again kept the well-being of Kentuckians as his number one priority. "Sen. McConnell has stepped up to the plate again," said Craig Williams, Director of the Kentucky-based Chemical Weapons Working Group. "He is making sure that the safer technologies, we hope are selected here, are managed by the same people that demonstrated their viability--people we trust."
In April of last year officials from the Army's incineration office appeared before Sen. McConnell and a Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and misrepresented the safety record, cost and schedule of their burn program. "Being caught lying to the US Senate wasn't a confidence builder," said Williams. "Most folks now understand that the incineration program is built on public relations not the best interests of communities. The ACWA program, on the other hand, has credibility and integrity - they also have safe technologies. It's a no brainer who should put in charge of destroying the Kentucky and Colorado stockpiles."
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