About 100 people gathered here Wednesday to show appreciation for Sen. Mitch McConnell's efforts in battling the Pentagon to keep funding on schedule to destroy chemical weapons stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot.

"Hopefully, we will see the day when these foolishly produced weapons have been completely destroyed," McConnell said to applause at the beginning of his speech at the Glyndon Hotel Ballroom. "We want them gone from your neighborhoods in the near future."

The Senate bill to restore the funding delayed by the Pentagon, co-sponsored by McConnell, is expected to pass the House next week and be signed by President Bush, the senator said.

Madison Judge-Executive Kent Clark, Berea Mayor Steve Connelly and Richmond City Manager David Evans joined other local officials and members of the Chemical Weapons Working Group in congratulating McConnell for his work to obtain funding and derail once-considered plans to transport the chemicals to incinerators in other states.

"This has been a tough time for all of us," Clark said. "We've been a great community who worked together to make this a model situation."

Craig Williams, director of CWWG, a Berea-based citizens watchdog organization, praised McConnell for his diligence in keeping the Pentagon accountable for money earmarked to neutralize the 523 tons of chemical weapons at the depot on site.

"We thought we had this thing figured out and suddenly we got derailed," Williams said.

Over the past year, the Department of Defense froze approximately $300 million of fiscal year 2005 funds for the Blue Grass Army Depot and the Pueblo, Colo., chemical storage site.

McConnell announced April 7 that he authored a provision in the fiscal year 2005 supplemental appropriations bill that blocks the Department of Defense from redirecting funds to be used for the disposal of chemical weapons at the BGAD.

"Instead of burning the chemicals and living under clouds of toxic fumes, we will be treating ours in sealed, protected areas," Williams said. "This is smart and it makes sense."

The U.S. Department of Defense released the funding after an announcement was made April 20, and tabled the option of transporting the weapons away from the depot and Colorado site.

"It seems the Department of Defense recognizes the errors of its ways," McConnell said after the DOD's announcement. "In order for the chemical weapons stockpile at the (depot) to be safely destroyed they need the funds to be spent at the facility and not tied up in Washington bureaucracy."

Funding includes approximately $300 million in 2005 money, $70 million released in early April, $75 million in held from 2003-04 and $32 million in the fiscal year 2006 budget.

The release of the funds will allow the government and its contractor, Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass, to continue with design work and reschedule construction activities at the depot.

Ronica Brandenburg can be reached at rbrandenburg@richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 234.