Congressman John T. Salazar -- Defending Rural Values -- Third District of Colorado

For immediate release:

Friday, February 15, 2008
CONTACTS:

Stephanie Valencia (Salazar) - 202-494-8790

Eric Wortman (Rep. Salazar) – 202-225-4761

Tara Trujillo (Rep. Udall) – 202-225-2161

Sen. Salazar & Reps. Salazar and Udall Introduce Bill to Achieve Swift and Safe Destruction of Hydrolysate On-Site at Pueblo Chemical Depot

DENVER, CO – In an effort to avoid additional delays in the destruction of chemical weapons at the Pueblo Chemical Depot, United States Senator Ken Salazar and Representatives John Salazar and Mark Udall introduced a bill today that would prohibit the Secretary of Defense from shipping hydrolysate at the Pueblo Chemical Depot off-site for treatment. At Pueblo, the Army has already begun construction of a bio-treatment facility to neutralize hydrolysate, a byproduct of the chemical neutralization process for mustard agent. Two separate reports commissioned by the Army have indicated that shipping hydrolysate off-site for neutralization could delay the completion of chemical weapons destruction at Pueblo.

“The citizens of Pueblo have seen delays and deadlines come and go at the Pueblo Chemical Depot. I will work with my colleagues to stand firm on the 2017 deadline and to assure the entire job is done in Pueblo and nothing is shipped off-site,” said Rep. John Salazar.

“By moving ahead with on-site treatment of hydrolysate, DOD will be better able to meet its legal obligation to complete chemical weapons destruction by 2017. This step will also provide some certainty to the communities that have waited so long for these chemical weapons to be safely destroyed,” said Senator Salazar. “I will continue to work to ensure that the DOD puts adequate resources behind its obligations to destroy the chemical weapons stored at the Pueblo Chemical Depot as safely and expeditiously as possible.”

“The Pueblo community has already waited too long for destruction of these chemical weapons,” said Rep. Udall. “The community and the Army have agreed on the plan to be followed, which includes doing the whole job on-site. The point of this bill is to make sure that plan is followed. That will benefit the Pueblo community by creating more jobs and benefit the country by avoiding the risks that would come with any shipment of these materials.”

Hydrolysate is a byproduct of the chemical neutralization process that will be used to dispose of the mustard agent in the weapons at the Pueblo Chemical Depot. Hydrolysate is a hazardous waste. To make it non-hazardous, hydrolysate must be subjected to a bio-treatment process similar to that used for treating sewage. At Pueblo, they have already begun construction of the bio-treatment facility to neutralize the hydrolysate. The facility will supply jobs, additional construction dollars, and will address public safety concerns associated with hydrolysate transport.

The Department of Defense commissioned two studies in 2007 assessing the benefits of shipping the hydrolysate off-site for destruction. These two studies both concluded that shipping hydrolysate off-site would yield few, if any, cost-savings and would likely result in litigation, strong public opposition, and potential delays to chemical weapons destruction. An analysis conducted by Mitretek found that “a decision for off-site treatment will probably result in litigation of the CD at Pueblo, resulting in extensive delays. The report by Lean Six Sigma concluded that off-site destruction would actually cost more and could result in as much as a five-year delay in chemical weapons destruction at Pueblo.

Last year Congress allocated over $400 million for weapons destruction at the Pueblo Chemical Depot and the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky. In addition to the funding that Congress restored in Fiscal Year 2008 for chemical weapons destruction, Senator Salazar fought for a provision that was signed into law that sets a hard deadline of 2017 for the DOD to complete all chemical weapons destruction activities. At the original pace the DOD was moving, projections indicated that destruction activities at the Depot were expected to be completed sometime in 2021.

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	For immediate release:
	Friday, February 15, 2008 CONTACTS: Stephanie Valencia (Salazar) - 202-494-8790 Eric Wortman (Rep. Salazar) – 202-225-4761 Tara Trujillo (Rep. Udall) – 202-225-2161
	Sen. Salazar & Reps. Salazar and Udall Introduce Bill to Achieve Swift and Safe Destruction of Hydrolysate On-Site at Pueblo Chemical Depot
	DENVER, CO – In an effort to avoid additional delays in the destruction of chemical weapons at the Pueblo Chemical Depot, United States Senator Ken Salazar and Representatives John Salazar and Mark Udall introduced a bill today that would prohibit the Secretary of Defense from shipping hydrolysate at the Pueblo Chemical Depot off-site for treatment. At Pueblo, the Army has already begun construction of a bio-treatment facility to neutralize hydrolysate, a byproduct of the chemical neutralization process for mustard agent. Two separate reports commissioned by the Army have indicated that shipping hydrolysate off-site for neutralization could delay the completion of chemical weapons destruction at Pueblo. “The citizens of Pueblo have seen delays and deadlines come and go at the Pueblo Chemical Depot. I will work with my colleagues to stand firm on the 2017 deadline and to assure the entire job is done in Pueblo and nothing is shipped off-site,” said Rep. John Salazar. “By moving ahead with on-site treatment of hydrolysate, DOD will be better able to meet its legal obligation to complete chemical weapons destruction by 2017. This step will also provide some certainty to the communities that have waited so long for these chemical weapons to be safely destroyed,” said Senator Salazar. “I will continue to work to ensure that the DOD puts adequate resources behind its obligations to destroy the chemical weapons stored at the Pueblo Chemical Depot as safely and expeditiously as possible.” “The Pueblo community has already waited too long for destruction of these chemical weapons,” said Rep. Udall. “The community and the Army have agreed on the plan to be followed, which includes doing the whole job on-site. The point of this bill is to make sure that plan is followed. That will benefit the Pueblo community by creating more jobs and benefit the country by avoiding the risks that would come with any shipment of these materials.” Hydrolysate is a byproduct of the chemical neutralization process that will be used to dispose of the mustard agent in the weapons at the Pueblo Chemical Depot. Hydrolysate is a hazardous waste. To make it non-hazardous, hydrolysate must be subjected to a bio-treatment process similar to that used for treating sewage. At Pueblo, they have already begun construction of the bio-treatment facility to neutralize the hydrolysate. The facility will supply jobs, additional construction dollars, and will address public safety concerns associated with hydrolysate transport. The Department of Defense commissioned two studies in 2007 assessing the benefits of shipping the hydrolysate off-site for destruction. These two studies both concluded that shipping hydrolysate off-site would yield few, if any, cost-savings and would likely result in litigation, strong public opposition, and potential delays to chemical weapons destruction. An analysis conducted by Mitretek found that “a decision for off-site treatment will probably result in litigation of the CD at Pueblo, resulting in extensive delays. The report by Lean Six Sigma concluded that off-site destruction would actually cost more and could result in as much as a five-year delay in chemical weapons destruction at Pueblo. Last year Congress allocated over $400 million for weapons destruction at the Pueblo Chemical Depot and the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky. In addition to the funding that Congress restored in Fiscal Year 2008 for chemical weapons destruction, Senator Salazar fought for a provision that was signed into law that sets a hard deadline of 2017 for the DOD to complete all chemical weapons destruction activities. At the original pace the DOD was moving, projections indicated that destruction activities at the Depot were expected to be completed sometime in 2021.
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