Extra funding allocated to weapons plant
By Ronica Brandenburg/Register News Writer

The Pentagon has released an additional $110 million in previously frozen funds that will go toward destroying the chemical weapons stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot and at the site in Pueblo, Colo.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has helped lead this process by inserting language into the 2005 Supplemental Defense Bill requiring the Pentagon to release all previously appropriated funds and specifically to obligate not less than $100 million of those funds for weapons destruction within 120 days of passage.

A letter was sent to House and Senate Appropriations Committee leadership Nov. 7 by Under Secretary of Defense Kenneth J. Krieg stating that the money would now be released to the ACWA program.

ACWA, which stands for Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives, is the agency inside the Army responsible for disposal of the chemical weapons stored in Kentucky and Colorado.

The Pentagon's compliance with this directive assures continued progress toward weapons disposal in Colorado and here in Kentucky, said Craig Williams, director of the Chemical Weapons Working Group based in Berea.

“The level of attention to detail Senator McConnell has afforded Kentucky's chemical weapons disposal program is astonishing,” he said. “Despite his grueling schedule as Senate Majority Whip, he has not taken his eye off the ball for a second.”

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 and was conducting a study of possible ways to transport the chemical weapons across state lines.

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.

The additional funding ensures the uninterrupted progress toward the goal of destroying the more than 880,000 weapons stored at both sites.

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