Colo. sues for faster mustard gas destruction

[unhappycamper]

Colo. sues for faster mustard gas destruction
By Dan Elliott - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Sep 2, 2008 21:02:46 EDT

DENVER — Colorado is filing suit against the Department of Defense, hoping to force the Army to destroy obsolete chemical weapons stored in the state by 2017.

The military said Tuesday it could take until 2020 under current funding and staffing levels to eliminate about 2,600 tons of mustard gas stored at the Pueblo Chemical Weapons Depot near Pueblo.

The military says the weapons are outdated and have no military use. The state says the gas is still highly toxic and can cause severe skin and lung inflammation, cancer and birth defects.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said Tuesday it had filed suit in Denver federal court. Court officials said they had not yet seen the filing.

Department of Defense spokeswoman Kathy DeWeese said the military’s attorneys had not yet seen the lawsuit.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/ap_mustard_gas_090208/%2e

[MrModerate]

1. Yeah, Defense Dept. keeps stopping and starting funding . . .

Increasing costs and putting the project further and further behind. IIRC, when it was started up, destruction was going to be complete by 2010 or something.