In 1985, the Army pegged the cost of destroying nearly 31,000 tons of chemical weapons at $1.7 billion and said it could complete the task by 1994. An internal Pentagon memo, dated Sept. 6, now puts the cost at $24 billion, up from a 1998 estimate of $15.3 billion. Environmental permitting problems; slower than anticipated incinerator processing rates; and higher labor, equipment, and construction costs are some of the reasons cited for the increase.

The U.S. has destroyed more than 23% of its stockpile at disposal plants in Tooele, Utah, and on Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. It has met its Chemical Weapons Convention obligations for destroying first 1% and then 20% of its stocks but is unlikely to meet the treaty's 2007 deadline for disposing of all weapons and probably will ask for the allowed five-year extension.

The Army is constructing additional incinerators at storage sites in Anniston, Ala.; Umatilla, Ore.; and Pine Bluff, Ark. Neutralization plants are being built to destroy bulk liquid agents in Aberdeen, Md., and Newport, Ind. No destruction method has yet been chosen for stocks stored at Pueblo, Colo., and Blue Grass, Ky. According to the briefing documents, only the Maryland and Indiana facilities are likely to meet the 2007 deadline. Under optimal conditions, the Utah site may meet the deadline, but 2011 is more realistic, as it is for the Colorado site. The Oregon, Arkansas, and Kentucky facilities may not even meet the 2012 deadline.

Craig Williams of the Chemical Weapons Working Group, which opposes incineration, says, "The significant increased cost and schedule slippage highlight the overwhelming need for reform of this program."

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