Pine Bluff Arsenal Fights For Future
By: Import User
Updated: January 7, 2009
It`s hard to overstate the impact of the Pine Bluff Arsenal on the economy of Jefferson County. More than 2,000 people work at the Arsenal, a number that`s put into even sharper focus when you consider the context: Pine Bluff`s unemployment rate is almost twice the state average.
Behind those numbers is a battle to keep the Arsenal open and relevant to the Department of Defense and its future plans.
When the Arsenal finishes incinerating its chemical weapons agents in 2009, some fear that will signal the end of the Arsenal.
Economic development officials and Arsenal leaders say they`re fighting for the Arsenal`s future, looking for missions that will keep the Department of Defense relying on Arsenal services.
One plan, to make and store biological vaccines, is meeting resistance at the federal level. The Pentagon says there`s "no interest."
