Chemical Weapons Destruction
Issues Related to Environmental Permitting and Testing Experience Gao ID: T-NSIAD-92-43 June 16, 1992The Defense Department (DOD) plans to spend almost $8 billion to construct and run incinerators on Johnston Island in the Pacific that would destroy most of the U.S. stockpile of chemical weapons. These incinerators cannot be built, however, until environmental permits are obtained from federal and state regulatory agencies. This testimony discusses DOD's efforts to obtain environmental permits for its reverse assembly high-temperature chemical weapons incinerators, the status of its prototype facility on Johnston Island, and events that will likely affect the program's costs and schedule.