May delay: Weapons destruction

Local News

November 21, 2006

By Ronica Shannon The Richmond Register Tue Nov 21, 2006, 09:26 PM EST

Chemical weapons destruction at the Blue Grass Army Depot will be delayed another eight years if the Pentagon’s latest budget proposal is approved by Congress.

Craig Williams, director of the Berea-based Chemical Weapons Working Group, conducted a press conference Tuesday at City Hall that included comments from several community organization leaders and elected officials.

The proposal will be sent to Congress for review on Jan. 12.

The Pentagon’s budget proposal would move the deadline for chemical weapons destruction from 2012 (which was set by the international Chemical Weapons Convention) to 2023. The deadline already has been extended from 2007 to 2012 as a result of funding stopped by the Pentagon in 2005.

“This is absolutely intolerable,” Williams said. “For the Pentagon to intentionally put tens of thousands of Americans at an unnecessary risk by continuing to store these weapons is reprehensible. Not only are they ignoring our international treaty obligations, they are undermining the military’s fundamental obligation to protect U.S. Citizens.”

Under the new budget projections, construction and testing activities for the Blue Grass Army Depot’s pilot plant would begin until 2017, rather than 2012.

The proposed budget restrictions would mean that the disposal process would take six and a half years rather than just two and a half years.

Madison Judge-Executive Kent Clark, said that unfortunately, the community has become accustomed to receiving discouraging news from the Pentagon.

Clark also said that Kentucky and Colorado’s rejection of the Army’s plans to incinerate the weapons has made for a rocky relationship.

“I truly believe that it’s been a thorn in their side because this community, along with Pueblo (Colo.) came together and decided that we wanted neutralization and did not want incineration,” Clark said. “I think that it will be a fight with the Army, no matter what.”

Clark is referring to the different types of weapon destruction. Incineration would include using fire to destroy the weapons, but Kentucky and Pueblo have decided to use the SCWO method. SCWO stands for super critical water oxidation. This is said to be a safer alternative that allows the agent to neutralize instead of burn.

Richmond Mayor Connie Lawson said Tuesday that she was upset about the funds being wasted to prolong the storage of the weapons.

“We’re incurring a tremendous waste every year that we maintain these ammunitions,” she said. “We could go ahead and do this and then upgrade our V.A. hospitals. When all these people come back from Iraq, we’re going to need them.”

Kentucky houses more than 70,000 M55 rockets. The rockets in storage were determined by the National Research Council (NRC) to present the greatest threat to the public.

According to the Government Accounting Office, army tests have shown that the ignition of a single M55 rocket within a storage igloo could involve many of the 4,000 rockets that are typically stored together.

“Even before these reports, the military has consistently found in every risk assessment done that storing these weapons presents the highest risk to any stockpile community,” Williams said.

Congress also has expressed its concern regarding the prolonged storage of the deadly, nerve-agent filled rockets.

In the 2007 Defense Authorization Act, Congress expressed its determination to get rid of these weapons, stating that destroying existing chemical weapons is a homeland security imperative and an arms control priority and is required by United States Law.

The document also emphasizes the important role chemical weapons destruction plays in national security and states that the Secretary of Defense at the time, Donald Rumsfeld, should make every effort to ensure adequate funding to complete the elimination of the United States chemical weapons stockpile.

Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, who along with Williams has helped encourage the rapid destruction of the deadly weapons, was upset to see that the Department of Defense and Rumsfeld did not keep their promises.

“I’m disappointed to see that the Department of Defense is again backsliding on its commitment to the Richmond community,” McConnell said. “They would subject the people living near the Blue Grass Army Depot to the dangers of chemical weapons until well into the 2020s. I am going to continue to lead the fight to ensure that these heinous weapons are disposed of in a safe and timely manner.”

USA Today reported Tuesday that Pentagon spokesman Chris Isleib said several factors support the delay, including the technological challenges involved in constructing disposal plants, “regulatory delays and safety and security issues.”

Isleib also said that “the military remains committed to the job and that the war in Iraq has not drained money from the effort,” according to the USA Today article.

“Destroying these weapons safely is not a fast or simple process,” Isleib said.

Williams encouraged the community Tuesday to have a voice in trying to change the views of the Pentagon.

“We know we can count on the Kentucky and Colorado delegations, but we can’t stop there,” Williams said. “We need the support of the entire Congress to make sure our own weapons of mass destruction don’t turn out to be the next 9/11. With adequate funding, we can dispose of these weapons eight years earlier and save over $3 billion in the long haul.”

Williams soon will be traveling to Washington, D.C. to speak with the Undersecretary of Defense, Kenneth Krieg. He will explain to Krieg the realities of the delays, he said.

“We want to try and convince the Pentagon the error of their ways before they send the funding profile to Congress,” Williams said. “It’s a lot harder to change the Pentagon’s mind after the signature has been made and the ink has dried.”

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

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