for immediate release, Thursday, December 18, 1997

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST ALABAMA FOR APPROVING CHEMICAL WEAPONS INCINERATOR; U.S. EPA ADMINISTRATOR BROWNER TO REVIEW CHARGES

More than 100 activists representing citizens groups in 40 states are backing a formal "Environmental Justice" legal complaint filed today against the Alabama Department of Environmental Management for approving construction of a U.S. Army chemical weapons incinerator in Anniston, Alabama a community highly populated by African-American and low-income people .

The complaint, delivered to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Carol Browner, charges Alabama with "discrimination on account of race and poverty" by ignoring the likely health impact of incinerator emissions on those who have already been exposed to toxic chemicals and failing to support safer chemical weapons destruction technologies. The action is brought under President Clinton's Environmental Justice Executive Order as well as provisions of the Civil Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution's Equal Protection clause. The Executive Order instructs the EPA "to identify and address disproportionately high and adverse human health and environmental effects of its programs, policies and activities on minority populations and low- income populations."

The plaintiffs, who include families living near the proposed incinerator, Serving Alabama's Future Environment (SAFE), the Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG), and the Sierra Club, claim Alabama should deploy non-incineration approaches like those being implemented at Army facilities in Maryland and Indiana, which eliminate the release of unburned chemical warfare agents, heavy metals and other toxic substances. Nearly half the residents of Anniston are African-American, most of whom live on the city's west side nearest the proposed facility. One in four Anniston residents live in poverty, twice the national average.

Dr. Suzanne Marshall of SAFE explained, "Building a chemical weapons incinerator in Anniston will continue Alabama's pattern of discrimination by race and poverty. African-American and other low-income people living in this area have long been exposed to many forms of pollution from inadequately regulated industries."

Elsie Boateng, a graduate student in environmental studies at Jacksonville State University said, "Minorities are being unjustly taken advantage of environmentally. The government decided what to do without the support of the community, just like they are now trying to bring more chemical weapons in. That's the wrong way to do things." Jacqueline Garard, a mother and a student at Jacksonville State University, stated, "The incinerator will hurt property values and may provide a few jobs at first, but will cause some of the industries we depend on to leave. Safer technologies would be better for everyone."

Melissa Tuckey of CWWG added, "It is unjust for the people of Anniston to be saddled with a dangerous incinerator while other chemical weapons stockpile communities move forward with better technologies. Safe disposal should be made equally available to all sites regardless or race or income level." SAFE is a local affiliate of CWWG.

The U.S. Army has abandoned plans to build chemical weapons incinerators at Aberdeen, Maryland, and Newport, Indiana and is pursuing other disposal technologies. Last year, President Clinton vowed that alternative technologies would have the "highest priority" for chemical weapons disposal, and Congress placed a moratorium on proposed Army incinerators in Kentucky and Colorado. According to the General Accounting Office, the Army's incineration program is more than 700% over budget and more than a decade behind schedule.

Among the nationwide list of groups endorsing the environmental justice complaint filed with EPA Administrator Browner are: Southern Organizing Committee, Atlanta, GA; Physicians for Social Responsibility, Washington, DC; National Gulf War Resource Center, Inc. Atlanta, GA; Friends of the Earth, Washington, DC; Center for Health and the Environment, Falls Church, VA; and the Indigenous Environmental Network, Minneapolis, MN.

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for further information:
Elsie Boateng (205) 782-7818
Jacqueline Garard (205) 820-56890
Dr. Suzanne Marshall SAFE (205) 782-0424
Melissa Tuckey CWWG (606) 986-0868

Copies of the Environmental Justice "Complaint of Discrimination" and the letter to EPA's Carol Browner are available on request and can be found at "www.cwwg.org".

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.