Huntsman

"Congress passed a law saying (the Defense Department) is not going to move these chemicals across state lines, now I hear the Pentagon is studying moving them," Matheson said. "I'm not happy, I don't want them bringing it here and I don't want Utah to be a dumping ground. It's consistent with a theme that has run for years that we are a small state in the West and everyone can take advantage of us."

Huntsman, in a prepared statement, said the safest place to store or destroy mustard gas is at the Army bases where it is currently stored.

"There is no way this governor will ever support transporting such toxic chemicals into Utah," Huntsman said in his prepared statement. "We will utilize all means to prevent any quantity of mustard gas from moving into the state of Utah."

The stand is consistent with Huntsman's declaration during his State of the State address last week that he would fight any effort to allow Class B or C nuclear waste into the state. Matheson has also been a longtime opponent to shipping nuclear waste to or through Utah.

Mustard gas, also known as sulfur mustard, is a chemical weapon that was used extensively during World War I. Although not usually fatal, it can incapacitate humans, damaging the skin, eyes and respiratory system, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Former Parowan Mayor Amos Hatch, who served in Europe during World War I, was a victim of mustard gas.

Although he lived to age 92, he had respiratory problems associated with being sprayed with the gas during the war, said his daughter, Margaret Hatch-Knight.

"He used neosynepherine to clear out his head all the time," she said. "It helped him breathe better."

The international community has condemned mustard gas and other chemical weapons and, during the Cold War, treaties were formed to not only forbid their use, but provide for the destruction of the gases.

Since then, chemical weapons have been either stored or incinerated at the Tooele facility. However, because of the possibility of leakage, which could result in widespread health problems, the Congress eventually banned transportation of all chemical weapons across state lines.

The latest proposal by the Defense Department would fund a $150,000 study to determine the feasibility of moving 2,600 tons of mustard gas from the Pueblo facility to Tooele.

In a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Matheson questioned if the study "is a prudent use of taxpayer funds to study -- yet again -- alternatives to construction of a chemical weapons disposal facility" at the Pueblo site.

"Department of Defense short-term budgetary considerations should not be more important than the safety of our citizens and complying with federal law," Matheson wrote. "Given the hazardous nature of these munitions and the risk associated with transporting them to Utah, I am opposed to any proposal that would lead to relocation."

Jason Chaffetz, Huntsman's chief of staff, said this is an issue that has been out there for some time.

"Because we're new to office, we had to learn more and do due diligence," he said. "The more we dove into it, the more evident it became that this is so dangerous and detrimental to Utah that we had to take a hard stand.

"It's a statewide issue, it's a national issue. The transportation of chemical and nuclear weapons? We cannot put up with that or accept it. We will have to fight the federal government at every level and every step to make sure Utah is not the final resting place or the transportation corridor for these weapons.

"There are terrorism threats, accidents. We can't risk that, no matter how much they are willing to pay us."