With a project nearing completion after having annually pumped an estimated $100 million-plus into the area and state economies over the past decade, the Pine Bluff Arsenal (PBA) is building for the future with an infrastructure enhancement that will hopefully net new missions and jobs.
PBA officials spoke on the installation’s past, present and future while hosting a White Hall Chamber of Commerce luncheon Tuesday. More than 100 persons attended the event, which was held at the Clara Barton Center.
Some 1,100 government and contractor jobs will be phased out between 2010 and 2013 as a chemical munitions demilitarization program winds down in phases to closure. Larry Wright, PBA’s civilian executive assistant, said that “various avenues of (transition) assistance are planned for those whose positions are ending.”
LTC Nathaniel Farmer is slated to be the final commander of Pine Bluff Chemical Activity (PBCA), a tenant command charged with maintaining safe storage of chemical stockpile items and helping to oversee operations of the Pine Bluff Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (PBCDF). PBCA is responsible for safely transporting stockpiled munitions to PBCDF, where they’re eliminated in an incineration process.
Farmer said PBCA expects to close in the “third quarter of 2012.” He said the “most personal” element of the agency’s finality is “human resource.”
Farmer said less than half of PBCA’s current 170 employees would be working through the closure evolution.
Guy Campbell, a site official of PBCDF systems contractor EG&G Washington Defense Group, said that some of his past employees here have already left for jobs at other demilitarization sites. Campbell said that financial incentives are being given to some local workers in exchange for their pledge to remain through the project’s conclusion.
PBCDF Site Project Manager Mark Greer referenced the project’s outreach program and vowed that public updates will continue throughout the transition. Greer said PBCDF’s “stockpile elimination finalization” is scheduled for 2010-12 and “contract close-out” is to start in January 2013.
PBA Commander COL Franz Amann and Wright addressed recent PBA accomplishments and a number of recent and upcoming infrastructure improvements.
Amann said PBA produced 1.9-million grenades during fiscal year 2010 “without a failure” and delivered an unspecified number of M930 mortars “six months ahead of schedule.”
From 2001-10, $116.3 million was invested in PBA’s infrastructure. An additional $76 million is earmarked for infrastructure enhancement from 2011-16. The installation has received nearly $25 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, all allocated for infrastructure development.
Among sites receiving renovations and/or additions are a white phosphorus production facility, a children’s center, family housing, an evaluation laboratory and a bomb storage area.
Wright said a study is under way to determine “re-use” of selected PBCDF facilities after the demilitarization mission is completed. He believes that effort will create some new jobs.
Wright said PBA, which was initiated in 1941 and began production the following year, is dedicated to “creating opportunities” to benefit the local economy. He referenced the proposed Bioplex as an example.
“Our top priorities are investing for the future and taking care of the workforce,” he added.
With a project nearing completion after having annually pumped an estimated $100 million-plus into the area and state economies over the past decade, the Pine Bluff Arsenal (PBA) is building for the future with an infrastructure enhancement that will hopefully net new missions and jobs.
PBA officials spoke on the installation’s past, present and future while hosting a White Hall Chamber of Commerce luncheon Tuesday. More than 100 persons attended the event, which was held at the Clara Barton Center.
Some 1,100 government and contractor jobs will be phased out between 2010 and 2013 as a chemical munitions demilitarization program winds down in phases to closure. Larry Wright, PBA’s civilian executive assistant, said that “various avenues of (transition) assistance are planned for those whose positions are ending.”
LTC Nathaniel Farmer is slated to be the final commander of Pine Bluff Chemical Activity (PBCA), a tenant command charged with maintaining safe storage of chemical stockpile items and helping to oversee operations of the Pine Bluff Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (PBCDF). PBCA is responsible for safely transporting stockpiled munitions to PBCDF, where they’re eliminated in an incineration process.
Farmer said PBCA expects to close in the “third quarter of 2012.” He said the “most personal” element of the agency’s finality is “human resource.”
Farmer said less than half of PBCA’s current 170 employees would be working through the closure evolution.
Guy Campbell, a site official of PBCDF systems contractor EG&G Washington Defense Group, said that some of his past employees here have already left for jobs at other demilitarization sites. Campbell said that financial incentives are being given to some local workers in exchange for their pledge to remain through the project’s conclusion.
PBCDF Site Project Manager Mark Greer referenced the project’s outreach program and vowed that public updates will continue throughout the transition. Greer said PBCDF’s “stockpile elimination finalization” is scheduled for 2010-12 and “contract close-out” is to start in January 2013.
PBA Commander COL Franz Amann and Wright addressed recent PBA accomplishments and a number of recent and upcoming infrastructure improvements.
Amann said PBA produced 1.9-million grenades during fiscal year 2010 “without a failure” and delivered an unspecified number of M930 mortars “six months ahead of schedule.”
From 2001-10, $116.3 million was invested in PBA’s infrastructure. An additional $76 million is earmarked for infrastructure enhancement from 2011-16. The installation has received nearly $25 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, all allocated for infrastructure development.
Among sites receiving renovations and/or additions are a white phosphorus production facility, a children’s center, family housing, an evaluation laboratory and a bomb storage area.
Wright said a study is under way to determine “re-use” of selected PBCDF facilities after the demilitarization mission is completed. He believes that effort will create some new jobs.
Wright said PBA, which was initiated in 1941 and began production the following year, is dedicated to “creating opportunities” to benefit the local economy. He referenced the proposed Bioplex as an example.
“Our top priorities are investing for the future and taking care of the workforce,” he added.
