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Colorado Senators Look to Block DOD Study of Relocating State’s Chemical Weapons Stockpile
The U.S. senators from Colorado said they planned to introduce legislation today blocking the study of chemical weapons relocation, in an effort to prevent Colorado’s stockpile from being shipped to another location for destruction, according to a press release (see GSN, Jan. 24). The Defense Department earlier this month directed the Army to consider options to help the United States meet its 2012 treaty deadline to fully eliminate its chemical weapons. Among the alternatives to be studied is moving some munitions to already-constructed chemical weapon destruction facilities. Stockpiles at Pueblo, Colo,, and Blue Grass, Ky., are seen as most likely to be moved as budget problems could delay construction of disposal facilities at those sites until 2011. Senators Wayne Allard (R) and Ken Salazar (D) said the Defense Department’s Jan. 10 directive conflicts with a commitment they received from Pentagon officials last week that destruction would occur at Pueblo. The public announcement of the study came one day after the senators’ meeting with the Pentagon officials. “It is extremely disturbing to me that the Pentagon would study the possibility of relocating the Pueblo’s chemical weapon stockpile after the Pentagon assured Senator Salazar and myself last week that such an option was unrealistic, not to mention illegal,” Allard said in a press release issued yesterday by his office. The three-month Army study is set to cost $150,000, the press release states. Three prior studies conducted over the past 20 years determined that chemical weapons relocation was impractical, the Allard press release states. “Studying whether to relocate the stockpile is an incredible waste of time and scarce defense dollars,” Allard said in the release. “The money should be used to pay for the rising cost of disposing of these weapons, not a meaningless intellectual exercise.” Added Salazar: “We believe we were given a good faith commitment last week that the destruction of the weapons would continue at Pueblo using the water neutralization technology agreed upon and that the munitions would not be transferred elsewhere. While we wait for the promised clarification on these matters, Senator Allard and I believe it is necessary to emphasize our resolve. This legislation helps provide that emphasis” (Senator Wayne Allard press release, Jan. 25). A spokeswoman said Allard planned to introduce the bill today on the Senate floor. If passed into law, the study prohibition would override the Defense Department directive, acknowledged Greg Mahall, a spokesman for the Army’s Chemical Materials Agency. “The Army is an executor of orders. The ultimate giver of orders is Congress. If this bill becomes law the Army is going to salute the flag and follow the law,” Mahall said (Chris Schneidmiller, Global Security Newswire, Jan. 26). Meanwhile, Richmond, Ky. city commissioners yesterday unanimously voted to outlaw shipment of nerve or blister agents within the city, the Lexington-Herald Leader reported. The nearby Blue Grass Army Depot holds 523 tons of mustard, sarin and VX agents. Richmond sits between the depot and Interstate 75. While the ordinance probably is not enforceable, it is “highly valuable as a symbolic gesture,” said City Attorney Garrett Fowles. Police Chief Robert Stephens said it would be “hard for my officers to stop an Army truck.” “We do what the government tells us to do,” he said (Peter Mathews, Lexington Herald-Leader, Jan. 26). In Arkansas, residents and officials gathered Monday at the Pine Bluff Arsenal to express their concerns that site’s soon-to-open incinerator might end up with another depot’s stockpile, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. “We were told we were stuck with these rockets because they can’t be shipped safely,” White Hall Mayor James Morgan told Army representatives. “After hearing that argument for years, you’re going to have to do a whole lot of convincing.” Some residents said they wish they had fought incineration of weapons the way the residents of Colorado and Kentucky did. Pueblo and Blue Grass have been designated to use neutralization technology to eliminate munitions. “Basically they put up a pretty good fight, and we didn’t,” said Sam Mayhew of White Hall. Other residents were less concerned about potential arms relocation. “I don’t believe the Army or the U.S. government would do something to put us in jeopardy here in White Hall, Ark.,” Leroy LeNarz said (Austin Gelder, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Jan. 25). In Oregon, another potential destination for other states’ chemical stockpiles, two state permits now bar the Umatilla Chemical Depot from accepting additional chemical weapons, said Dennis Murphey, who oversees Umatilla for Oregon’s Environmental Quality Department. Murphey said he would “vigorously recommend” against altering the bans, the Oregonian reported. “I’m hoping that this is something that will go no further” than being studied, he said. While not taking it lightly, state Senator David Nelson said the Pentagon’s proposal “is probably a trial balloon somebody floated out there to gauge public opinion” (Andy Dworkin, The Oregonian, Jan. 25).
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