[CPEO-MEF] Kentucky Boards urge chem demil funding

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Kentucky Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board
105 Fifth Street, Suite 206
Richmond, KY 40475
        
for immediate release: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Advisory Board Expresses Concerns Regarding Future Funding of Chemical
Weapons Disposal in Kentucky

Governor's Commission endorses the call to Congress and Other Elected
Officials to , "....[a]ct to prevent major delays in destroying
Kentucky's chemical weapons stockpile."

In two separate letters sent out today, the Kentucky Chemical
Destruction Citizen's Advisory Board (CDCDB) and the Governor's Chemical
Demilitarization Citizens Advisory Commission (CAC) expressed concerns
about the future funding of chemical weapons disposal here in Kentucky.

The letters urged Kentucky's Federal and State elected officials to
convey to the Pentagon the importance of including adequate funds in
their budget requests to keep the Kentucky disposal project on schedule.
This follows a Pentagon directive to the Army last month, stopping
design work at the Colorado disposal facility. The two sites (CO and KY)
are both exclusively under the authority of an Army organization
separate from other storage and disposal locations (the Assembled
Chemical Weapons Alternatives or ACWA program). Funding cuts and
cessation of design work at the one has raised concerns that the
Kentucky project could be next.

The CDCAB letter states, "Given the recent cessation of the design work
in Colorado, it is very likely that Kentucky's funding may be cut
severely, or even eliminated, in fiscal year 2006 and beyond unless
action is taken. From our perspective, an ominous precedent appears to
have been set --using ACWA sites to pay other bills within the larger program."

The letter also raises issues surrounding terrorism, and other risks
associated with continuing to store these weapons in populated areas
such as Central Kentucky. It states, "For more than 18 years, Pentagon
officials have consistently identified the risk of continuing to store
these weapons as greater than that of disposal. They have also, even
prior to the horrendous events of 9/11, identified the threat of
sabotage or theft of these materials as a serious risk. That threat is
certainly elevated as we fight the war on terrorism... now is not the
time to allow our own weapons of mass destruction to languish in
American communities."

CDCAB Co-chair, Craig Williams said, "This isn't the right program to
cut, particularly in light of the progress being made here on the
project. Doing so increases risk to the region, undermines our Homeland
Security efforts and violates America's international treaty obligations."

Both letters ask the elected officials, "....to send a clear message to
the Acting Undersecretary of Defense (A,L&T), Mr. Michael Wynne, to
submit a budget to Congress for 2006 and beyond that will provide the
funds necessary to complete the chemical weapons destruction program
nationally and especially the project in Kentucky."

CDCAB Co-chair, Madison County Judge Executive Kent Clark said, "This
issue should be on the highest priority list of our Representatives and
Senators as it is a major safety concern for the citizens of the Commonwealth."

--30-- 
for more information, see http://www.cwwg.org


-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
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