Advisory co-chair wants decision on chemical weapons hydrolysate

Local News

March 11, 2009

By Bill Robinson The Richmond Register Wed Mar 11, 2009, 08:08 AM EDT

The co-chair of the community advisory board that met Tuesday for a progress update on construction of the chemical weapons destruction plant at the Blue Grass Army Depot expressed displeasure about the lack of progress in one aspect of the project.

Craig Williams, who also heads the Kentucky Environmental Foundation, said he would like to know when a decision will be made on how the hydrolysate that will result from neutralization of the chemical weapons stored at the depot will be treated and then disposed of.

While the advisory board heard about progress being made in construction of the plant’s exterior and some of its internal equipment, no update was given about the hydrolysate issue.

“I’d like to know when we can expect a decision on this,” Williams said. “And when the decision is made, I’d like to see it released to the public instead of waiting for the next quarterly (advisory board) meeting.”

The next meeting of the Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board has three remaining meeting this year -- June 9, Sept. 8 and Dec. 8.

The CDCAB did learn Tuesday that design of the projects' construction-containment building is complete and is under review.

Redesign of the structure, needed because a previous design was rejected by a military review board, will delay plant completion by about five months, said Mark Seely, project manager for general contractor Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass.

“We’re looking at ways construction can be accelerated to make up for some of that delay,” he said.

Construction continues to proceed safety, Seely said. Employees of Bechtel Parsons and its subcontractors have completed more than 3.7 million job hours without a lost-time injury.

The company actively involves all workers and managers to maintain a safe workplace culture said, Jeff Weldon, safety manager for the contractor.

Workers begin their week every Monday with a CATS meeting, said Gail Ditsch, the project’s safety advocate.

CATS, a name chosen by the workers, stands for Constructive Attitude Toward Safety.

Workers also are encouraged to make anonymous reports of any unsafe practice or action under the company’s “no name, no blame” policy, Ditsch said.

Ed Harbour, an iron worker on the project, said any worker can immediately halt any action at the job site by voicing a safety concern.

Williams said he was encouraged to see worker safety and freedom to report questionable actions ingrained into the project’s culture.

“There have been numerous whistle-blower cases on similar projects around the country, where workers have claimed they could not voice safety concerns without fear of retaliation,” he said.

In addition to 97 construction workers at the site, 277 people are employed locally by the project, Seely said. Another 54 are employed at other locations.

More than 27 percent of the project’s acquisitions are being purchased from small businesses in Kentucky, exceeding the goal of 20 percent, he said.

Nearly 5.5 percent of purchases have come from small, disadvantaged businesses, 4.3 percent from female-owned firms, 5.9 percent from historically under-utilized businesses, 3.5 percent from veteran-owned firms and 0.4 from companies owned by service-disabled veterans.

Robert Blythe, who represents the city of Richmond and the Richmond chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on the CDCAB, asked why minority-owned businesses were not included in the breakdown.

These were included in the small, disadvantaged and historically under-utilized category, Seeley said.

Before the next meeting, he promised to provide Blythe with the percentage of minority-owned businesses from which purchases have been made.

Bill Robinson can be reached at brobinson@richmondregister.com or at 623-1669, Ext. 6702.

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