Weapons destruction coming soon?
Proposed budget would speed up chemical weapons destruction
Peter Marcus, DDN Staff Writer
Thursday, May 14, 2009

After decades of waiting, residents of Pueblo may finally be seeing the light at the end of the chemical depot.

The Pentagon has proposed a budget that would accelerate the destruction of chemical weapons stored just 15 miles outside of Pueblo at the Pueblo Chemical Depot. Defense officials have called for $250 million more than anticipated this year, asking for $545 million to clean up mustard agent vapor at the site.

The Pentagon says it could cost as much as $3.2 billion over five years to construct the facilities needed to properly dispose of aging chemical weapons at two sites.

The influx of funding would enable the Department of Defense to destroy most of the chemical weapons by the Congressionally mandated date of 2017, said U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo. Final completion, however, is not expected until 2021, well past the 2012 deadline set by the international Chemical Weapons Convention.

The Pueblo Chemical Depot and the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky are among the last of six remaining stockpile sites that need to be destroyed.

The Pentagon’s budget also calls for accelerated funding to destroy chemical weapons at the Kentucky site. For decades, residents of Pueblo have waited patiently for the chemical weapons to be destroyed. The depot opened in 1942 and currently stores about 2,611 tons of liquid mustard agent.

Recent leak

A recent leak of mustard agent vapor at the Pueblo site highlighted the urgency for expedited destruction. While the incident was minor, lawmakers like Udall said the incident highlighted the need for the Defense Department to move quickly.

“The people of Pueblo have been waiting a long time for good news about the weapons stored in their community, and I am very happy to see that the Pentagon has finally seen the light about the need to accelerate the weapons destruction,” said Udall.

The Defense Department has already twice in the past pushed back destruction deadlines set for 2007 and 2014.

The Colorado health department, as a result, filed a lawsuit against the Defense Department last year hoping that a federal judge would force defense officials to treat and destroy chemical weapons stored at the site.

Repeated concerns

The health department has raised repeated concerns over hazards presented by the chemical agent, including respiratory troubles, skin blisters and death.

As a U.S. Representative, Udall pushed the Defense Department to destroy the chemical weapons on site rather than shipping them elsewhere, which was the Defense Department’s original proposal.

After reviewing the on-site versus off-site options for treatment and disposal, the Defense Department announced Wednesday night in a report to Congress that it would seek the on-site option.

Construction has already begun in Pueblo on a neutralization facility for the mustard agent vapor, as well as a biotreatment facility that would break down the chemical.

Udall, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said he will fight to ensure that the budget request is approved by Congress to fund the projects.

“The people of Pueblo have my commitment that I’ll work to ensure the proper incentives are in place so that the federal government can hire people quickly and get this job done,” he said.