Associated Press
February 20, 2003

Incineration critics praise new Army agency, director

By JEFFREY McMURRAY
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Some of the harshest critics of chemical weapons
incineration in Alabama and elsewhere are praising the creation of a new
agency to oversee the program and the Army's choice of a director to lead
it.

The Army announced this week that it is merging two tasks - the storage and
demilitarization of the weapons - into the new Chemical Materials Agency,
which will officially go under Army control by October. Its acting director
will be Michael Parker, who currently serves as deputy commander of the
Soldier Biological and Chemical Command, which had been handling the storage
duties.

"The CMA brings all the parties under one roof necessary to carry out the
mission of the safe storage and elimination of obsolete and aging chemical
weapons," Parker said through an Army news release.

Parker's appointment, along with the reorganization announcement, drew rare
praise Thursday from the Chemical Weapons Working Group - a watchdog
organization that had been highly critical of the Army's handling of the
weapons destruction.

"If it's salvageable, this is the best shot we've had in 20 years to get it
right," said Craig Williams, the group's director. "Mr. Parker's record
reflects a real sensitivity to shooting straight, meaningful community
involvement, straight-forwardness with the Congress and all the attributes
necessary."

Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, another outspoken critic of the incineration
project, called Williams an "excellent choice."

Anniston, Ala., houses an incinerator intended to destroy some 2,254 tons
of outdated chemical agents and munitions, but state regulators haven't
cleared it for a trial burn even though construction of the incinerator is
finished.

Nationwide, the Army has destroyed 8,082 tons of the agents - about a
quarter of the American stockpile. In addition to Anniston, there are
incineration and neutralization sites in Utah, Oregon, Colorado, Kentucky,
Maryland and Indiana.

Federal and local lawmakers have argued the Army has poorly handled the
program and not given residents adequate safety information. Earlier this
month, the Bush administration acknowledged the problems by listing it as
"ineffective" in Bush's 2004 budget proposal.

In addition to his new duties, Parker will continue to serve as program
manager of the Pentagon's Assembled Chemical Weapons Assessment, where he
has served since its inception in 1997. Williams says that program, under
Parker's lead, has effectively identified alternatives to incineration at
sites in Colorado and Kentucky.