The Senate agreed Wednesday to amend the Defense Authorization bill authored by U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, ensuring that ground will be broken next year on the weapons disposal plant at the Blue Grass Army Depot.

The bill was passed May 17 by the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"My provision provides $51 million for construction purposes, which should put us on a path to begin preliminary work at Blue Grass Army Depot next year," McConnell said. "After 20 years of working closely with the local community to ensure the safe and efficient disposal of chemical weapons, that is very encouraging news."

The Department of Defense originally requested that the fiscal year 2006 funds for weapons disposal be used for research and development instead of construction. McConnell's efforts ensure that the money will now be used for construction to allow a 2006 groundbreaking of the Blue Grass Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant.

"Senator McConnell has proven once again that he continues to keep his eyes open and find effective ways to protect these two important projects against the whims of DOD officials who have tried to derail the safe and expeditious destruction of these in Kentucky and Colorado every step of the way," said Craig Williams, executive director of the Chemical Weapons Working Group. CWWG is a local branch of a national organization formed to make sure the community stays aware of important issues surrounding the demilitarization process and to ensure that the weapons are destroyed in a safe and environmentally sound manner.

"Without the modification of the money, Bechtel/Parsons would have had to cease design work in December/January and would have zero capability to begin preliminary construction next year," Williams said. "This would have set the program back another year at the minimum."

This is not the first step McConnell has taken to ensure funding for the weapons disposal process.

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., site.

McConnell announced April 7 that he authored a provision in a 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.

The bill, which will sustain the flow of funding to keep weapons disposal at the Blue Grass Army Depot on schedule, was signed by President Bush on May 12 .

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