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Supporters ask committee for favorable report on House Bill 62 to allow testing at Aberdeen Proving Ground; health, oversight questions raised
Summary
Proponents told the Environment and Transportation Committee HB 62 would let Aberdeen Proving Ground test and develop technologies to counter chemical threats; department staff and public-health witnesses urged retained permitting and monitoring steps and flagged concerns about an exemption in the draft bill.
Supporters of House Bill 62 told the Environment and Transportation Committee on Wednesday that the bill is needed to allow the Aberdeen Proving Ground’s Chemical Biological Center to perform small-scale testing and demonstration of technologies that protect U.S. forces and support national security.
Bryson Pop, appearing for the Army Alliance, said the measure “is a national security issue” and that the proposed change reflects a shift from large-scale stockpile destruction toward testing small battlefield-recovery samples from places such as Syria and Iraq.
The bill’s proponents — including Tom Alvaro, who identified himself as a former president of the Army Alliance and chairman of the Maryland Defense Research Coalition, and Rob Malone, an environmental scientist at the CHEM Bio Center — told the panel the center is the only U.S. location where small quantities of chemical agents can be fabricated…
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