US plant that destroys chemical weapons beset by troubles

DENVER (AP) — A highly automated, multibillion-dollar plant in Colorado that destroys U.S. chemical weapons is over budget, behind schedule and bedeviled by troubles that could worsen the danger to workers.

But when the Army said this month it wants to spend millions extra installing more traditional technology to help the beleaguered plant and reduce worker risk, public reaction was more resignation than anger.

"Yes, the process has been too slow and too expensive, but this is the price paid to protect the workers and neighbors of this site," said Marco Kaltofen, a nuclear and chemical engineering researcher at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts.

Defense contractor Bechtel Inc.