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News ARSENAL UNVEILS PLAN FOR TRANSITION AFTER INCINERATION By Amy Riggin/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF For the first time Thursday, the Pine Bluff Arsenal provided details about its plans for the chemical weapons incineration facility there once its mission is completed by November 2011, possibly sooner. Larry Wright, civilian executive assistant to the commander, emphasized after a meeting of the arsenal’s Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) that the state’s only active Army installation’s plan is “not a done deal.” But he, along with Col. Franz Amann, arsenal commander, said they are taking steps to provide the Department of Defense with “concepts for reuse” in order to maintain a military presence in the community — and with that, jobs. “Our top priorities are investing for the future and taking care of the work force,” Wright said. He told CAC members during a presentation that the arsenal is in the process of conducting a business case and feasibility study, which includes identifying specific structures to remain and possible uses for them, engineering estimates for construction and restoration, a cost-benefit analysis and a justification and need analysis. “We’re under way, putting pencil to paper,” Wright said. “It’s a mature concept. Of all the concepts we’ve had for the facility, it’s the most mature.” Amann added that the arsenal has “competed for this very actively” and “engaged with key leadership” to seek approval and funding for the project. Wright said he hoped to have an official thumbs up on the plan “within the next year.” He said the transition is tentatively set for fiscal year 2013. Amann added that the plan would “allow us to leverage our work force,” because all of the proposed “reuse” projects are being carried out on a smaller scale at the arsenal already. In other words, employees would be retained. There are nearly 1,000 people, most of them employed by contractor Washington Defense Group, EG&G Division of URS Corp., working on disposal. Wright said a crucial factor is being able to show the DoD that an investment to retool parts of the complex will be a good one, financially speaking. The majority of it, including the actual incinerators being used now to burn chemical agent, will be destroyed after the burn is complete. “From a taxpayer standpoint, the ability to reuse those facilities will actually save taxpayer dollars,” Wright said. Jim Bacon said the Economic Development Alliance of Jefferson County is spearheading the effort to seek funding from the DoD’s Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA). Bacon is a former arsenal civilian executive and former interim president and chief executive officer of The Alliance. “They [OEA] have approved our application to seek grants for work-force training and those kinds of things that will enable the transition,” Bacon said, adding that a meeting between Alliance and local elected officials and the OEA is scheduled in two weeks. Retired Maj. Gen. Don Morrow, former adjutant general of the Arkansas Army National Guard and currently the Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services’ representative on the CAC, asked if commercial options for the facility were still on the table. “Public/private partnerships are doable — they are possible — but we don’t have a specific prospect identified at the moment,” Wright said. CAC chair Betsy Francis described the presentation as “exciting news.” “They are working hard,” she said of the arsenal leadership. “And they are going to provide for the community like they always have.” One aspect of dismantling the facility is set to begin in August, when crews will prepare to demolish a former BZ disposal facility. The demolition is expected to be complete by fall, said Mark Greer, Army site project manager at the disposal facility. Greer noted that 24 percent, or 1.5 million pounds, of the mustard agent stored there had been destroyed. Thirty-six percent of the original amount of agent has been incinerated. |
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