for immediate release: July 30, 1996

GOVERNMENT WITNESSES CONTRADICT EACH OTHER AT UTAH CHEMICAL WEAPONS INCINERATION TRIAL; Top risk analyst admits cancer hazard omissions in risk assessments and potential civilian causalities

Salt Lake City, Utah-- In a hearing in Federal Court, the Army's chief risk analyst, Gary Boyd,
from Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), contradicted earlier testimony by
two high ranking officials from the Tooele Chemical Disposal Facility and admitted that the
incineration process could release nerve agent causing fatalities as far away as 30 miles.

Previous testimony by Jeff Principe, Tooele Chemical Activity Safety Chief and Richard Holmes,
Associate Program Manager for the Tooele Chemical Disposal Facility, stated that chemical
warfare agents would not go beyond the Tooele Depot boundary under any incineration or
processing accident scenario.

Earlier in the trial, fired former Chief Safety Officer Steve Jones, claimed to have seen risk
scenarios, developed by Army contractors, that showed fatality zones of up to 40 miles.
Principe and Holmes denied ever having seen such models and repeatedly testified to no
conceivable off-post impact.

Boyd also admitted, under cross examination by attorneys representing the Chemical Weapons
Working Group, Sierra Club and Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, the groups seeking an
injunction to prohibit the facility from burning nerve agents, that Dioxin impacts were not
factored into the risk assessments. He also stated that health risks from exposure to Dioxin and
other contaminates through food chain exposure were also omitted from the analysis.

Dioxins have recently been shown to be a powerful cancer causing by-product of incineration
and that the risks are increased by 100 to 1000 times if taken in through food, especially
vegetables, dairy products and meat. Boyd also admitted the risk assessment did not include
Dioxin impacts on infants residing in the fallout area. Additionally, Boyd stated that there had
been no public involvement or review of the changes to site specific environmental impact
statement for the Tooele incinerator.

Another Army witness, James Cudahy, a member of the Army's Alternative Technology Selection
Panel, testified that the majority of Products of Incomplete Combustion (PIC's) from the
incineration process have not been identified. He also stated that there are other major
unknowns surrounding the incineration process and that there is a significant lack of data on the
health impact of dioxins and other toxic chemicals that are emitted from the incinerator stacks.

Finally, Francis Holm, chairman of the Army's Alternative Technology Selection Panel stated
that the alternative technologies to incineration are "promising" from a safety and efficiency
standpoint. He also stated that in tests done with alternatives the destruction rates have met or
exceeded incineration and have shown no dioxin emissions.

Alternative technology vendors have submitted depositions saying it would take only 18 months
to replace the Tooele incinerators. Greenlaw attorney, Robert Ukeiley commented,
"Everyone now admits that alternative technologies are feasible, it's only a matter of time."

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