Chemical arms to be relocated to Utah?

Cheryl Irwin, a public affairs spokeswoman for the Department of Defense, based in the Pentagon, told the paper that current federal law prohibits the transportation of chemical weapons.

However, Irwin added, the DoD has directed the Army and the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives Program "to develop alternatives that achieve the extended CWC (the Chemical Weapons Convention) 100 percent destruction deadline of April 2012, and to also develop options for relocation along with other alternatives."

The idea of relocating chemical weapons is a worry to Jason Groenewold, director of the Salt Lake City-based Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah.

"Our concern lies with the assertion that the Army is considering moving chemical weapons," Groenewold said.

He wonders if this could prompt moving weapons from sites where destruction of weapons is behind schedule to places like Deseret Chemical Depot, near Stockton, Tooele County. There, America's largest nerve agent and mustard agent stockpile has been undergoing incineration since 1996.

"Utah has already had nearly half the stockpile of chemical weapons," Groenewold said. "The last thing we need to do is open the doors to even more dangerous weapons and waste."

Congress has prohibited shipment of chemical weapons, Groenewold said. "So to see the Army at this stage in the process of re-evaluating that fundamental promise made to our community is extremely concerning."

He said he hopes Utah's congressional delegation will stop this idea before it goes too far.

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E-mail: bau@desnews.com