Residents hear plans for chemical weapons disposal
By Ronica Brandenburg/Register News Writer

Madison County residents were given a chance Tuesday to hear about recent developments concerning the destruction of chemical weapons stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot.

A public hearing, hosted by the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternative (ACWA) program and Bechtel-Parsons Blue Grass, was conducted at the Madison County Extension Center to give interested persons an overview of the demilitarization process from start to finish.

Representatives from the depot, Bechtel-Parsons Blue Grass, which is the government's contractor for the weapons disposal at the depot, Blue Grass Chemical Activity, the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management, the Chemical Weapons Working Group and CSEPP (Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program) attended Tuesday's public hearing ready with information for anyone who may have questions about their particular agency and how they fit into the demilitarization process.

Jim Fritsche, site project manager for ACWA, gave an overview of the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant project.

The Kentucky Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet, Division of Waste Management, tentatively approved a permit that would allow for construction, testing and demonstration of a facility to destroy the depot's stockpile. Construction of the pilot plant is scheduled to begin in 2006.

Chris Midgett, Bechtel-Parsons Blue Grass project manager, gave an update on possible changes in the way the M55 rockets stored at the depot will be destroyed.

Recent fires at two chemical weapons disposal facilities in the United States stemmed from the destruction of M55 rockets containing GB nerve agent. The rockets will be the first weapons destroyed once the pilot plant is in operation.

The rockets are being destroyed at other sites by a robotic processing machine that drains the nerve agent from the rocket and then cuts it into eight pieces.

While yet to be confirmed as the root cause of the increased amount of fires, nitroglycerin is very sensitive and a potential cause of the fires when pinched between the steel case and rocket grain during shearing (or cutting) operations.

Preliminary conclusions on the tests conducted to date show a migration of diluted nitroglycerin in all nine cases.

One alternative being studied is the separation of the M55 rocket motor from the warhead before destruction operations begin. The concept of separating the rocket motors has been under consideration for the past several months by the Blue Grass Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant design team as a way of improving operations and reducing overall costs.

The presentations were followed by few questions. The crowd was mostly comprised of employees from the represented agencies.

"We try to offer as many opportunities as possible for the public to be involved," said Mickey Morales, public information officer for Bechtel-Parsons Blue Grass. "This whole project has been founded on public involvement and it's important to involved citizens early on in the process so they feel they are of influence in the final decision."

Craig Williams, director of the Chemical Weapons Working Group, was pleased with Tuesday's event despite the low citizen turnout.

"Everyone should walk away from this feeling more comfortable with Bechtel-Parsons and ACWA," Williams said. "These people are also interested in the community as well as this project."

The public comment period for the depot's draft permit for the pilot plant will end on Aug. 31. The draft can be reviewed at the Madison County Public Library (Richmond and Berea branches), the Blue Grass Chemical Stockpile Outreach Office at 301 Highland Park Drive in Richmond or the Division of Waste Management, 14 Reilly Road, Frankfort, KY.

Comments can be submitted and additional information can be obtained by calling Shannon Powers, Kentucky Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet, at (502) 564-6716, Ext. 246.

A public hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 30 at 6 p.m. at the Carl D. Perkins building at Eastern Kentucky University.

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