Published: November 09, 2007 11:34 pm      

A step away from destruction

New weapons timeline to shave six years off

Congress approved an amendment at 11:45 p.m. Thursday that, if signed by the president, will mandate that all chemical weapons stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot be destroyed six years sooner than originally scheduled. It also will secure an additional $79 million for disposal efforts in Kentucky and Colorado.

Without the amendment, submitted in September by the office of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the Department of Defense would not finish the disposal of the weapons until 2023.

A previous Pentagon budget proposal moved 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.

U.S. Sens. Wayne Allard of Colorado and McConnell say the amended bill sets a deadline of Dec. 31, 2017, to destroy chemical agents and munitions at the depot and the Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado.

U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-5th District, has joined McConnell, making the fight for earlier destruction of the weapons a bipartisan effort.

A letter from Chandler’s office was sent Oct. 19 to Ike Skelton, chairman of the House Armed Service Committee, and to Duncan Hunter, a ranking committee member, in support of the recent 2008 Defense Authorization Bill that was an effort of McConnell and Allard.

“The 523 tons of nerve and blister agent at the Blue Grass depot, and the 2,611 tons of mustard agency at the Pueblo (Colo.) depot pose serious risks as the Cold War-era weapons continue to age becoming less stable and serve as terrorist targets,” Chandler wrote.

The amendment will be made into a law if it were to receive the president’s signature in upcoming weeks.

“The people living near the Blue Grass Army Depot are at risk because the chemical weapons stored there are the most deadly in the nation,” McConnell said. “This additional funding will enable the ACWA (Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternative) program to move more quickly toward the safe elimination of the chemical weapons located at the facility.”

In related news, McConnell also recently secured $28 million in additional funding for clean-up efforts at the Blue Grass Army Depot in the fiscal year 2008-09 Defense Appropriations conference report.  

The cleanup of chemical weapons at the Blue Grass Army Depot remains a top priority, McConnell said.

“It is vitally important that we keep the pressure on the Department of Defense to get the job done,” McConnell said. “The people of Richmond can be assured that I will continue to fight on their behalf until all the weapons at the facility are disposed of and their community is safe.”

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