CHEMICAL WEAPONS WORKING GROUP
P.O. Box 467 Berea, Kentucky 40403
(606) 986-7565 (606) 986-2695 (f)
www.cwwg.org
for more information contact:
Craig Williams: 606-986-7565
Bob Schaeffer: 941-395-6773
for immediate release Tuesday, February 8, 2000
DEFENSE DEPT. INSPECTOR GENERAL URGED TO INVESTIGATE
CHARGES OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES BY ARMY OFFICIALS
AT TOOELE, UTAH CHEMICAL WEAPONS INCINERATOR;
GROUP SAYS, "DON'T LET ARMY AGENCY INVESTIGATE ITSELF"
The Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG) has called on Deputy
Department of Defense (DOD) Inspector General Donald Mancuso, to
investigate recent claims that the U.S. Army falsified data and committed other
criminal violations to obtain a permit for its controversial Tooele, Utah nerve
gas incinerator.
CWWG expressed concern that the same Army agency charged with the illegal
activities was investigating itself. The allegations were made by Gary Harris,
the former Permit Coordinator at Tooele, at a mid-January National Press Club
news conference.
In a letter to Mancuso, CWWG spokesman Craig Williams urged the Inspector
General "to intercede and initiate an investigation to ensure a proper level of
scrutiny and a clear separation between the accused and the investigator." The
CWWG letter explained, "To date there has been no response from the U.S.
government other than those attributed to the public affairs office of the agency
being accused, the Army's Program Manager for Chemical Demilitarization
(PMCD)." A PMCD spokesperson has been quoted in the news media as
stating, "We're going to defend ourselves against those allegations and we will
investigate them."
Williams concluded, "Any investigation done into these allegations by PMCD
alone will be inappropriate and forever suspect. We don't want Mr. Harris'
carefully detailed charges to be dismissed with predetermined conclusions."
Gary Harris is the fourth former senior manager at the Tooele facility to go
public with serious concerns about the facility's safety and compliance with
environmental laws. The CWWG is a national coalition of community groups
which support alternatives to incinerating the U.S. chemical weapons stockpile.
- - 3 0 - -
 CWWG Home Page |
Contact us: |