Pueblo Chieftain

Publish Date Sunday May 06, 2001

TELL IT TO THE CHIEFTAIN

Fee bill commendable

Sen. Bill Thiebaut should be commended for seeking to require impact fees for all technologies used for hazardous waste disposal.

At the present time, impact fees are assessed for hazardous waste incinerators. If the same fees are also not assessed for alternative technologies, Pueblo taxpayers will be penalized if a safer technology such as neutralization is selected for disposal of mustard agent at the Pueblo Chemical Depot.
Frankly, the effort to eliminate impact fees for technologies other than incineration smells like an attempt by the Army, through pressure on Gov. Owens and others, to give incineration an unfair advantage in the selection process. If passed without Sen. Thiebaut's changes, the bill would allow the Army to say to Pueblo County: "If you let us incinerate mustard agent, we'll pay you. If you insist on neutralization, you won't get a dime." Public officials say they want the Rio Grande Cement Plant to locate here, despite vigorous public opposition, because they want more tax revenues for the county.

Why, then, wouldn't these officials care about getting large impact fees from the Army if neutralization were chosen? This does not make sense in a county as strapped for money as this one claims it is.

Why does it matter to our local officials, legislators and governor what the Army wants? The Army did not elect them. We citizens did. They should not allow themselves to be used by the Army in its effort to gain leverage for its proposal to incinerate mustard gas in Pueblo County. Thank goodness Sen. Thiebaut is paying more attention to Pueblo's taxpayers than to the wishes of the Army.

It's time for all our elected leaders to stiffen their spines, forget partisan politics for the moment, and join Sen. Thiebaut in insisting that the Army be promised no special favors at Pueblo taxpayers' expense.

Margaret Barber
Pueblo