Senator blasts Army at hearing

Destruction of chemical weapons handled poorly, McConnell says

by JOE TROTTER Register News Writer

U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., blasted the Army over the
mismanagement of its chemical munitions demilitarization program
Wednesday during a Senate hearing in Washington, D.C.

"If General Washington had run the Continental Army the way our chemical
weapons destruction efforts have been managed, it is an absolute certainty
that we would still be sipping tea and dining on crumpets," McConnell said. "I
am not exaggerating when I say that in all my years as a senator, I have
never seen a federal program that is more poorly managed."

McConnell's comments came during the hearing of the Senate Defense
Appropriations Subcommittee. The hearing gave senators a chance to
question both Army personnel and public activists regarding the efforts to
safely destroy the nation's stockpile of chemical weapons.

The Blue Grass Chemical Activity, located at the Blue Grass Army Depot in
Madison County, stores more than 532 tons of chemical agent, about 2
percent of the nation's stockpile. Under the International Chemical Weapons
Treaty, the U.S. is mandated to destroy all of its chemical weapons by 2007.

In 1988, the Army elected to destroy the stockpile by incineration, but in
1996, McConnell pushed through an amendment in the Senate that directed
the Army to identify and demonstrate technologies other than incineration.
"I am proud to have been involved in forcing - and I use that word
intentionally - the Army to conduct an evaluation of alternative methods to
incineration as a means of destroying these weapons," he said.

McConnell accused the Army of providing false information to the public and
of providing false information during the hearing. "We've heard a lot
from the Army, even today we've heard statements from the Army that were
contradicted by their own internal documents and that was not very pleasing - to
have the Army saying one thing when their own documents say something else," he said.

of those documents were presented during the hearing by Craig
Williams of Berea. Williams is the director of the Chemical Weapons Working
Group, which opposes incineration, and he was one of the people to testify
during the hearing.

One document he presented was an internal review by the Army of a
proposed incinerator on Madison County's capability to process chemical
weapons. That document stated that it would take until 2014 to incinerate all
of the chemical in Madison County. Williams presented the document during
the hearing after Army representatives told the committee that the chemical
stockpile in Madison County could be eliminated by about 2010.

"It seems to me that, even today, they were not telling the truth and that is
the sort of thing that is always getting the Army into trouble," McConnell said.

Gregory J. Mahall, a representative of the Army's Program Manager for
Chemical Demilitarization program, said Monday the Army was committed to
having all of the weapons destroyed by 2007.

Marilyn Daughdrill, spokeswoman for the Army's Program Manager for
Chemical Demilitarization, verified the memo's authenticity but said it
represents a worst-case scenario.

''We still believe the 2007 deadlines are achievable,'' she said.

"That is deliberate misrepresentation," Williams said. "We presented several
internal documents at the hearing that showed the Army is misrepresenting
both the cost of program and the schedule of the program."

No one was on hand to dispute William's documents because the
representatives of the Army left before the hearing was over and prior to the
testimony of the civilian panel. The quick exit did not go unnoticed by
McConnell.

"I didn't think that was very smart. I was shocked that they got up and walked
out before the second panel had started," he said. "At worst it shows their
lack of interest in the public's comments or at best, it is bad PR."

Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said the program is making ''guinea pigs'' out of
residents of Anniston, Ala., where another of the stockpiles is located.
Anniston residents have been given the survival kits that include plastic
sheets and duct tape to be used to cover windows if a leak is detected.

Similar kits have been distributed in Madison County

They are concerned about a repeat of what happened last May in Tooele,
Utah, when a similar incinerator leaked a small drop of sarin from its
smokestack. When inhaled, sarin constricts the lungs and can halt breathing.

Though no one was injured in Tooele, the incident focus attention on the
dangers of the weapons destruction program.

Williams said he thought the committee was receptive to the concerns he and
other members of the civilian panel raised.

"I think it was very, very positive, and I think we made a lot of progress," he
said. "We certainly demonstrated unquestionably that the testimony given to
the committee by the people in the Army and in this program is pure fiction."

McConnell said the investigation into alternatives to incineration should be
completed within a few months and that, once the study is complete, he will
likely push for one of the alternatives to be selected over incineration.
"The early indications are that these alternative technologies are going to
prove to be safer and, therefore, it is likely that I'll be lobbying to select
another method," McConnell.

The hearings received very little attention from the national media. McConnell
said the lack of of interest is reflected by the Congress, whom he said has
little interest in getting involved. He credited Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska.,
chairman of the committee, for working with him on the issue.

"Quite frankly, with the exception of the loyal support from my friend the
chairman, there are very few members of congress who are interested in
wrestling with this issue," he said.

McConnell said testimony at the hearing showing there was no danger from
the stored chemical weapons in Madison County means that the government
does not have to rush to eliminate the weapons.

"I think the one piece of good news we heard was that there is no danger of
these weapons leaking. So, even it takes a bit longer to destroy the weapons
using a technology we have concluded to be safer, we don't have to worry,"
he said. "The overwhelming issue that we have to deal with is public safety."

Story created Thursday, April 26, 2001.