Pentagon Funding Estimates
Would Add Years to Chem Weapons Destruction Schedules & Ignore
Treaty Obligations
CHEMICAL
WEAPONS WORKING GROUP
128 Main
St. Berea KY 40403
859-986-9868
859-986-2695 (F)
www.cwwg.org kefcwwg@cwwg.org
for
more information contact:
Craig Williams 859-986-7565
Ross Vincent 719-561-3117
Craig Williams 859-986-7565
Ross Vincent 719-561-3117
for
immediate release: Tuesday, November 21, 2006
PENTAGON FUNDING
ESTIMATES WOULD ADD YEARS TO CHEMICAL WEAPONS DESTRUCTION SCHEDULES AND
IGNORE TREATY OBLIGATIONS
Additional Eight Years for KY and Five for CO If Proposed Funding Not Increased
Additional Eight Years for KY and Five for CO If Proposed Funding Not Increased
If the
Pentagon's latest proposed budget projections for two chemical weapons
disposal projects is adhered to, as briefed to Congressional offices
last Wednesday, Nov. 15, it will be almost another 20 years before
these deadly weapons are gone. The briefing documents, obtained by the
CWWG, reveal that the shortfall in the Pentagon's proposed funding plan
would extend Kentucky's weapons disposal end date from 2015 to 2023 and
Colorado's from 2016 to 2021.
"This is absolutely unacceptable," said CWWG Director Craig Williams. "For the Pentagon to intentionally put tens of thousands of Americans at an unnecessary risk by continuing to store these weapons is reprehensible. Not only are they ignoring our international treaty obligations, they are undermining the military's fundamental obligation to protect U.S. citizens."
The Pentagon and the National Research Council (NRC) have consistently identified continued storage of these weapons as the greatest risk factor. The NRC has stated, "The public risks calculated in all the Risk Assessments performed to date show that the risk associated with continued storage is larger than the risk associated with processing." and "Delays in disposal operations can only increase the already much larger cumulative risk of accidental releases from storage."
"The new funding profile they have proposed defies common sense," said Ross Vincent, a Pueblo Sierra Club leader and member of the Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Citizens' Advisory Commission. "It violates both US and international law, defies congressional directives, prolongs and increases unacceptable risks to our communities, and raids the national treasury," he said.
The Pentagon funding plan also abandons recent assurances by the Department of Defense (DoD) and ignores the position of the U.S. Congress.
In April 2006, the Secretary of Defense notified Congress that the extended Chemical Weapons Treaty disposal deadline of 2012 would not be met, but he assured Congressional members that the DoD would "continue requesting resources needed to complete destruction as close to April 2012 as practicable." And later this year, as part of the 2007 Defense Authorization Bill, both the House and Senate included language that stated, "Destroying existing chemical weapons is a homeland security imperative and an arms control priority and is required by U.S. law."
They went on to say, " The Secretary of Defense should make every effort to ensure adequate funding to complete the elimination of the U.S. chemical weapons stockpile in the shortest time possible."
Under the latest Pentagon proposal, the amount of funding requested for the Kentucky and Colorado disposal projects necessitates that the implementation schedules at these facilities be significantly decreased. For example, under the new budget projections, in Kentucky, construction and testing activities required to prepare for the start-up of disposal operations, would be pushed from 2015 to 2017. Once disposal operations have started, the new budget restrictions would stretch operational time from the current 2.5 years to 6.5 years.
"It's our understanding that the new budget plan would only allow the Kentucky facility to run four days a week instead of the desired seven days per week," said Williams. Under such restrictions it is estimated that the agent destruction would not be completed in Kentucky until late 2023!
"This is preposterous," said Williams. "Shutting down the plant three days each week while still maintaining management payrolls, security costs and other expenses is absurd. If there were ever an example of 'penny-wise, pound foolish' this is it!" According to the documents, extending the schedules at both sites would add about $3.3 billion to the costs.
For citizens affected by the continued storage of these lethal weapons it is ironically contemptible that the Pentagon's proposal ignores what the military has always claimed to be its most important goal in destroying the weapons - safety - by eliminating the risk to local communities as quickly as possible.
"We will work harder than ever with each and every member of Congress to see that enough funds are available to expeditiously build and then fully operate these disposal facilities," said Williams. "We know we can count on the Kentucky and Colorado delegations, but we can't stop there. We need the support of the entire Congress to make sure our own WMDs don't turn out to be the next 9/11."
"This is absolutely unacceptable," said CWWG Director Craig Williams. "For the Pentagon to intentionally put tens of thousands of Americans at an unnecessary risk by continuing to store these weapons is reprehensible. Not only are they ignoring our international treaty obligations, they are undermining the military's fundamental obligation to protect U.S. citizens."
The Pentagon and the National Research Council (NRC) have consistently identified continued storage of these weapons as the greatest risk factor. The NRC has stated, "The public risks calculated in all the Risk Assessments performed to date show that the risk associated with continued storage is larger than the risk associated with processing." and "Delays in disposal operations can only increase the already much larger cumulative risk of accidental releases from storage."
"The new funding profile they have proposed defies common sense," said Ross Vincent, a Pueblo Sierra Club leader and member of the Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Citizens' Advisory Commission. "It violates both US and international law, defies congressional directives, prolongs and increases unacceptable risks to our communities, and raids the national treasury," he said.
The Pentagon funding plan also abandons recent assurances by the Department of Defense (DoD) and ignores the position of the U.S. Congress.
In April 2006, the Secretary of Defense notified Congress that the extended Chemical Weapons Treaty disposal deadline of 2012 would not be met, but he assured Congressional members that the DoD would "continue requesting resources needed to complete destruction as close to April 2012 as practicable." And later this year, as part of the 2007 Defense Authorization Bill, both the House and Senate included language that stated, "Destroying existing chemical weapons is a homeland security imperative and an arms control priority and is required by U.S. law."
They went on to say, " The Secretary of Defense should make every effort to ensure adequate funding to complete the elimination of the U.S. chemical weapons stockpile in the shortest time possible."
Under the latest Pentagon proposal, the amount of funding requested for the Kentucky and Colorado disposal projects necessitates that the implementation schedules at these facilities be significantly decreased. For example, under the new budget projections, in Kentucky, construction and testing activities required to prepare for the start-up of disposal operations, would be pushed from 2015 to 2017. Once disposal operations have started, the new budget restrictions would stretch operational time from the current 2.5 years to 6.5 years.
"It's our understanding that the new budget plan would only allow the Kentucky facility to run four days a week instead of the desired seven days per week," said Williams. Under such restrictions it is estimated that the agent destruction would not be completed in Kentucky until late 2023!
"This is preposterous," said Williams. "Shutting down the plant three days each week while still maintaining management payrolls, security costs and other expenses is absurd. If there were ever an example of 'penny-wise, pound foolish' this is it!" According to the documents, extending the schedules at both sites would add about $3.3 billion to the costs.
For citizens affected by the continued storage of these lethal weapons it is ironically contemptible that the Pentagon's proposal ignores what the military has always claimed to be its most important goal in destroying the weapons - safety - by eliminating the risk to local communities as quickly as possible.
"We will work harder than ever with each and every member of Congress to see that enough funds are available to expeditiously build and then fully operate these disposal facilities," said Williams. "We know we can count on the Kentucky and Colorado delegations, but we can't stop there. We need the support of the entire Congress to make sure our own WMDs don't turn out to be the next 9/11."
--30-
Copies of the DoD briefing materials are available from the CWWG upon request.
Copies of the DoD briefing materials are available from the CWWG upon request.
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