for immediate release, Monday, February 24, 1997

ACTIVISTS APPLAUD NEW GAO CHEM. WEAPONS PROGRAM REVIEW; REPORT CONCLUDES STOCKPILE IS SAFE UNTIL 2013, PREDICTS PROGRAM DELAYS AND COST OVERRUNS UNTIL ARMY REACHES AGREEMENT ON DISPOSAL TECHNOLOGY WITH AFFECTED LOCALITIES

Leaders of the movement to press the U.S. Army to destroy the nation's chemical weapons
stockpile using non-incineration technologies praised a new General Accounting Office
(GAO) report criticizing the Army's current plans.

Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG) spokesman Craig Williams explained,
"GAO has accurately depicted the flaws of the Army's incineration scheme. It's time for the
Army to begin working with us to move forward with safer approaches to our common
goal of eliminating chemical agents." CWWG is an alliance of groups from communities
near sites where the Army wants to build incinerators.

Among the key GAO findings applauded by the CWWG activists:

• Rockets and other components of the U.S. chemical weapons stockpile should be stable through 2013. According to CWWG's Williams, "This shoots down the Army's fear campaign claiming immediate incineration is necessary to avoid agent leaks. The GAO recognizes there is time to develop and implement alternative destruction technologies."

• The Army's incineration plan will require more time and funds than currently planned. Noting that the program is already seven times over its initial budget and years late, GAO concludes that incineration will cost even more than the $12.4 billion currently planned. The Army is also unlikely to meet its December 31, 2004 Congressionally- mandated destruction schedule. That requirement will be superseded with a later deadline if the Chemical Weapons Convention is ratified by the U.S. Senate.

• Until affected states and localities agree on a disposal method, the Army will not be able to predict cost and schedule accurately. The GAO report concludes, "The key factors impacting the programs include public concerns over the safety of incineration, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, legislative requirements, and the introduction of alternative disposal technologies."

"To begin making real progress on chemical weapons destruction, the Army must abandon
its fixation on incineration and work with the public and private corporations to put
alternative technologies on the fast track," Williams concluded. "In Maryland, where that
has happened, lethal agents will be quickly eliminated."

Earlier this year, the Army agreed with local citizen groups to abandon incineration and
proceed with neutralization technologies at its Aberdeen, Maryland, chemical weapons
facility. Two weeks ago Teledyne-Commodore, announced successful testing of a low-
temperature, low-pressure process that it says can destroy all chemical weapons munition
components with no emissions.

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- the report "Chemical Weapons and Materiel: Key Factors Affecting Disposal Costs and
Schedule" is GAO/NSIAD-97-18.

- a briefing kit analyzing the flaws of the Army's chemical weapons incineration program
and the potential of alternative technologies is available on request

CWWG Home Page

Contact us: Chemical Weapons Working Group Kentucky Environmental Foundation P.O. Box 467 Berea, KY 40403 phone: 859-986-7565 fax: 859-986-2695 For comments about this WWW page contact Lois Kleffman.