PB Arsenal to get more to destroy?
Posted on Thursday, July 3, 2008
The Pentagon has drafted a plan to send more of its chemical weapon stockpile to the Pine Bluff Arsenal and three additional disposal sites to meet a 2017 deadline to destroy lethal chemical agents and munitions.
The proposal comes a week after officials at the arsenal celebrated the disposal of the site’s last nerve agents, saying that had greatly reduced the risk of exposure to the region.
In a six-page report, the Department of Defense proposes sending blister and nerve agents from the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky to the arsenal in White Hall and another site in Anniston, Ala.
Two members of Arkansas’ congressional delegation said if safety concerns surrounding shipping chemical agents across state lines are met, they would be open to the idea of sending more chemical agents to the arsenal.
However, a spokesman for a chemical agent disposal program said the idea isn’t politically viable.
The idea would have to be approved by Congress, which shunned a similar proposal to transport chemical weapons in the past, officials said.
The report doesn’t specify what agents — blister, nerve or both — would potentially go to Anniston and what agents would go to the arsenal.
“I don’t want anyone to get the impression that any decision has been made,” said Karen Drewen, a spokesman for the U. S. Army Chemical Materials Agency. “We have not received any direction to change what we’re doing.” Drewen said the report was given to lawmakers this week.
Late last month, the Pine Bluff Arsenal announced disposal of the last of its nerve agents, noting that disposing of the remaining blister agents by 2012 poses little immediate health risks to the general public.
The Department of Defense report also proposes sending chemical agents from the Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado to chemical weapons disposal sites in Utah and Oregon.
The Pentagon acknowledges in its report that it’s against the law to transport chemical agents across state lines but notes that it would be possible if Congress changed the law.
U. S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., said in a telephone interview Wednesday, “The Pine Bluff Arsenal has shown that they are very good at disposing of these chemicals, and they are ahead of schedule when it comes to this type of disposal. But when you’re talking about transporting this stuff across the country, you really have to consider safety. Safety would be the top priority, but if we can meet those safety concerns, I bet you the Pine Bluff Arsenal could save the system some money.” The director of Chemical Weapons Working Group, a nonprofit organization based in St. Berea, Ky., said it’s a bad idea to transport chemical agents across state lines.
“I think it’s impractical, dangerous and politically unacceptable,” Craig Williams said. “They’ve considered shipping it to various locations in the past. The shipment option was rejected for a number of reasons, including the risks associated with moving it, terrorist risks, costs and the amount of handling.” U. S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., said in a statement that he would be receptive to transporting the weapons to the arsenal if all safety concerns are addressed.
“Any time these types of materials are transported, my number one concern is ensuring the safety of the public,” Ross said in a statement. “Therefore, if these materials can be transported safely and in a way that protects the communities and citizens along these routes, then I would be receptive to such a proposal, as it would strengthen the mission of the Pine Bluff Arsenal and protect the valuable jobs the arsenal provides.” The U. S. Army Chemical Materials Agency is responsible for the destruction of 90 percent of the nation’s chemical stockpile at five disposal facilities across the country, including at the arsenal.
The Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program is responsible for destroying the remaining 10 percent of the original chemical weapons stockpile at Pueblo Chemical Depot and at Blue Grass Army Depot. Destruction facilities at those locations are under construction, and none of the weapons at the sites have been destroyed.
The report said it’s possible to destroy all of the weapons at the Colorado site by 2017 but will likely be impossible to destroy the weapons in Kentucky by then. “The reason why Kentucky is not going to meet the 2017 deadline is because it’s not technically feasible,” said Kathy DeWeese, a spokesman for the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program. “Based on the funding that’s in place, Kentucky is scheduled to complete operations in 2023.” The Pentagon report listed three options for Congress to review Continue the current destruction at the five Chemical Materials Agency sites and offer incentives to complete disposal by the International Chemical Weapons Convention deadline of 2012. Officials have said the United States won’t meet that deadline and Congress extended it by five years.
Transport portions of the stockpiles in Kentucky to White Hall and Anniston, and in Colorado to disposal sites in Utah and Oregon. Accelerate the disposal programs in Colorado and Kentucky. The Department of Defense is assessing the third option, the report said. DeWeese said the second option involving the transportation of chemical weapons is the only way to meet the 2017 deadline set by Congress. “The only reason they looked at transportation was to be responsive to Congress, fully recognizing that there are laws that would have to be changed,” De-Weese said. “Do we know that’s not politically viable ? Certainly. That’s why our focus is on the third option to accelerate the [programs in Kentucky and Colorado ].” Since March 2005, workers at the Pine Bluff Arsenal have disposed of nerve agents that included containers with GB, commonly known as sarin, as well as VX rockets. Last month, the arsenal disposed of its last VX land mine. The arsenal will begin disposing of the blisteragent containers after a changeover and training period.
Workers are expected to dispose of the last blister agent by 2012 before shutting down the facility by 2014, unless additional chemicals agents are sent to the arsenal.
The Army has stored about 12 percent of the nation’s original chemical weapons at the Pine Bluff Arsenal since 1942.
The Pine Bluff Arsenal opened in 1941 to manufacture blister agents and to assemble munitions. Production of chemical weapons ended in 1969.
It has about 1, 750 employees, 95 percent of whom are civilians. The chemical disposal facility contracts about 750 employees.
The remaining 1, 000 arsenal workers are employed by the Army to make chemical-protection equipment, grenades and other munitions.
Arsenal, state and regional leaders are working to expand the arsenal’s production of supplies and weapons in the future.
The arsenal has a $ 160 million annual economic impact on the region, and local officials don’t want the military site to succumb in the next round of the Defense Department’s base realignments and closures, said Lou Ann Nisbett, president and CEO of the Economic Development Alliance of Jefferson County.
“We’d like to have something else come in to keep the viability up of the arsenal,” Nisbett said. “During the next BRAC realignment, if the arsenal is not viable, then the federal government could choose to close it down.”
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