for immediate release: June 10, 1997

First Dialogue Meeting on Incineration Alternatives for Chemical Weapons Disposal Positive and Productive; Army, regulators, citizens give each other high marks for cooperation and commitment to finding "a better way."

In the past, meetings between the Army and citizens opposed to incineration
of chemical weapons have been anything but cooperative. At times they've
been downright hostile. But the May 29-31 meeting in Colorado Springs
between the opposing sides and regulators from the federal government and
states that store chemical weapons, is being heralded as a new beginning
towards solving the vexing problem of how to dispose of these deadly weapons.

Under the 1997 Defense Appropriations Bill, the Pentagon was given $40
million to "...identify and demonstrate, not less than two alternatives to the
baseline incineration process for the demilitarization of assembled chemical
munitions." One of the primary ingredients needed to fulfill that directive,
agreed to by the Army and the anti-incineration coalition--the Chemical
Weapons Working Group--is direct participation by citizens in the decision
making process leading up to the selection of the technologies to be
demonstrated.

Historically, in the chemical weapons disposal process, the Army made
decisions, announced them, then asked for comments, as required by law. The
search for alternative technologies is following a different process. It began
with the Colorado meeting of the Dialogue for Assembled Chemical Weapons
Assessment, as the diverse group is called, and will continue into July with
meetings scheduled for June 16-17 in Lexington, Ky. and June 30-July 2 in
Baltimore, Md.

"We're off to a good start," said Craig Williams, CWWG spokesperson and
Dialogue participant. "A cooperative dynamic in the Alternative Technology
process is what will be required to satisfy all the parties in this issue. We have
always been critical of the decision-making process, but the Army, regulators
and the citizens together have broken new ground in trying to achieve
consensus on how to safely dispose of these munitions."

Michael Parker, the Program Manager for the new Alternative Technology
Program, opened the Dialogue Meeting in Colorado Springs by stating, "This is
truly a new way of doing business for the Department of Defense." Parker also
indicated he was dedicated to the Dialogue Process and feels, " the success of
the program is dependent upon stakeholder involvement."

Williams points to the Canadian experience as an example of why cooperative
decision making must be continued. "In Canada, they took four years to
cooperatively develop the approach to be used to rid themselves of their
chemical weapons," said Williams. " Once agreement was reached by the
communities, the regulators and the military, it only took three years to
complete the disposal process. Compare that to the U.S. program and the
advantage of involvement by all the stakeholders from the outset is obvious,"
he said.

"With the deadline for disposal being moved to 2007 as a result of the
ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention, we feel we can work together
within the allotted time to find and implement solutions that fit everyone's
criteria", said Williams. "I think all parties were impressed with the serious,
intelligent and productive nature of this new process. We're finally headed in
the right direction."

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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.