Pentagon Has Frozen CW Disposal Funds, Group Says

A budget analysis conducted by a Kentucky watchdog organization, the Chemical Weapons Working Group, has found that the U.S. Defense Department has impounded more than $400 million designated for the construction of two chemical weapons disposal sites, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported today (see GSN, Jan. 26).

The Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment on why the funding, intended to construct neutralization facilities in Colorado and Kentucky, has been frozen, according to the Herald-Leader. The proposed federal fiscal 2006 budget now only includes $31 million for the two sites.

Colorado’s U.S. senators, Wayne Allard (R) and Ken Salazar (D), last week called on the Pentagon to release the funds and allow construction to begin at a depot in Pueblo, Colo.

“It is unconscionable to me that the Department of Defense wants to delay this project when the Congress has provided ample funding during the past two appropriations cycles,” Allard said in a statement (Peter Mathews, Lexington Herald-Leader, Feb. 15).

Back to top
About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines © Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.