WASHINGTON

Senate approves weapons disposal funding

A supplemental appropriations bill passed the U.S. Senate on Thursday requiring the Pentagon to spend $372 million in previously budgeted funds to begin building chemical weapons disposal plants in Pueblo and Blue Grass, Ky.

The plants had been the subject of months of wrangling between the Pentagon, which had suspended the projects, and congressional delegations from both Kentucky and Colorado, which demanded that they proceed.

No timetable has been set for the Pueblo project, which is expected to employ more than 1,000 people over its life, disposing of 2,600 tons of mustard agent.