WASHINGTON
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Thursday he expects the Senate to approve a measure he drafted that would require the Army to respond to concerns about chemical weapons stockpiled at the Anniston Army Depot and around the country.
"The goal is simple - render the stockpile safe so that the surrounding community can live without fear," McConnell said.
McConnell's amendment requires the Army to issue a report by March assessing the shortcomings of the Army's current plan for destroying chemical weapons at six sites around the country. The Army would be called upon to describe the risks of storing the chemical weapons in light of the terrorist threats facing the nation.
The amendment would be added to the Defense Department spending bill, which the Senate began debating Thursday.
McConnell wrote the amendment after hearing from people who live near a stockpile at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond, Ky. Residents there are upset because Army officials have said the government probably will miss a 2007 international treaty deadline for destroying the nation's chemical weapons stockpiles.
"We want to eliminate the risk that these agents pose to the communities that store them," said Craig Williams, director of the Chemical Weapons Working Group in Berea, Ky.
In addition to Kentucky and Anniston, the Army's chemical weapons stockpiles are in Arkansas, Oregon, Utah and Colorado. Alternative technologies may be considered in Kentucky and Colorado.
McConnell's amendment urges the Army to consider previous government studies supporting the disassembly and neutralization of the chemical weapons as a means of getting rid of the stockpiles. Such a method would be an alternative to incineration.
Army spokeswoman Nancy Ray declined to comment, saying that would be premature. Additionally, Lt. Col. Bruce Williams, commander of the Anniston stockpile, said he hadn't heard about the amendment. Tim Garrett, the Army's project manager at the incinerator, couldn't be reached for comment.
The Army has stockpiled about 21,000 tons of the deadly chemicals at the six sites around the country. The Army also manages two stockpiles in Indiana and Maryland that contain chemical agents but no weapons.
