U.S. District Court Judge Tena Campbell's latest ruling reinforces what must be done at the Army's Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility: The chemical weapons stockpile there needs to be incinerated without delay. The sooner those weapons are destroyed the sooner all the controversy surrounding their disposal will dissipate.

Campbell ruled that the Army's $1 billion chemical weapons incinerator does not endanger workers, visitors, the public or the environment. Therefore, there is no reason to halt or delay incineration, which is what environmental groups had hoped to do via their lawsuit.Environmentalists claim the facility poses a danger to the environment, workers and the public. Even though they lost the ruling, their concerns need to be taken seriously. They claim to have new evidence that will support their contentions. They have every right to appeal the ruling, which is their intent.

But as this page has previously noted, the best course of action for all concerned is to destroy the chemical weapons as soon as possible. The Tooele plant has a major role in that process as 42 percent of the nation's 30,000 tons of chemical warfare agents are slated for incineration there.

A number of the thousands of rockets in the outdated arsenal leak, according to the Army, posing a significant risk. In addition, the stockpile is vulnerable to earthquakes and other catastrophic events that could trigger release of one or more chemical agents.

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What Campbell noted when refusing to grant an injunction delaying the incineration process in August of 1996 is just as true today: "For individuals living closest to (the incinerators), the risks resulting from continued storage are 100 greater than the risk resulting from disposal operations."

Some projections indicate the Tooele facility may be as much as 34 months behind the April 29, 2007 completion date set by the Chemical Weapons Convention. All the more reason to not have any delays.

Campbell's assertion that even though problems have occurred in the plant's operation there is no evidence of harm, should reassure workers and nearby residents.

As long as chemical weapons are there, though, legitimate questions will and should be raised concerning safety. And that's precisely why the weapons need to be eliminated.

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