Chemical Weapons Working Group
PO Box 467 Berea, KY 40403
(859) 986-7565 fax: (859) 986-2695
www.cwwg.org
for more information:
Craig Williams (859) 986-7565
Elizabeth Crowe (859) 986-0868
for immediate release: Tuesday,
April 20, 2004
"PROTECTION FROM WMDs BEGINS AT HOME" SAY CITIZENS LIVING NEAR
U.S. CHEM WEAPONS STOCKPILES;
GROUP CALLS ON CONGRESS TO MANDATE
ADVANCED CHEMICAL AGENT MONITORING SYSTEMS
Citizens living near chemical weapons
stockpile sites today chastised the U.S. Army for failing to deploy advanced
chemical agent monitoring systems at all chemical weapons storage and disposal
facilities, and repeatedly ignoring government requests that they do so.
The Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG), a grassroots
coalition of citizens working for safe disposal of the U.S. stockpile of
lethal chemical weapons, wants the Army to install "real-time" chemical agent
monitoring systems at stockpile sites, that can provide accurate analysis
of airborne chemicals in as little as 20 seconds. A system called the
Open-path Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectrometer has been used effectively
in the U.S. and overseas for detecting the presence of chemical agent in
the air. The CWWG says this system would add an important layer of
protection from lethal nerve and mustard agents here at home.
The National Research Council has recommended use
of advanced monitoring systems to the Army for more than a decade; the Army
has yet to heed their advice. Last Fall, the U.S. Congress included
in the 2003 Defense Bill a "Sense of the Congress" statement which
strongly urged the Army to deploy advanced monitors. Recently, Senator
Jim Bunning (R-KY), frustrated by the Army's lack of response to the statement,
requested funds from Congress toward monitoring systems at the chemical weapons
site in Richmond, Kentucky. The CWWG is calling on legislators from
all chemical weapons sites to support the advanced chemical agent monitor
systems.
Chemical agent monitors currently used in the areas
surrounding chemical weapons storage and disposal facilities can take 8-12
hours to confirm the presence of chemical agent. And that, say local
residents, is far too long.
"Here in Alabama we have our government-issued duct
tape and gas masks to protect us from chemical agent releases," said Rufus
Kinney with the group Families Concerned About Nerve Gas Incineration in
Anniston, Alabama. "But our emergency kits won't do any good if we
don't have instant notification."
Kinney referred to an incident last month in Anniston,
in which one of the chemical agent monitors detected the presence of VX
nerve agent in the air, far from the incinerator and storage sites.
But the deficiencies in the current monitoring system mean there is no way
to know exactly when the detection occurred, or the source of the release.
Roughly 75,000 people live within a nine-mile radius of the Anniston chemical
weapons incinerator.
Karyn Jones, who lives near the chemical weapons
site at Hermiston, Oregon, said, "Over the years we have named deficient
chemical agent monitors as a critical issue at the Umatilla incinerator,
but our state regulators just turn a deaf ear." Jones said she was
thankful that both Oregon Senators and her Representative supported the Sense
of the Congress statement last Fall; support she hopes will also come from
Oregon Governor Kulongoski.
Pine Bluff, Arkansas resident Evelyn Yates said installing
advanced monitors is a step the Army could easily take to make workers and
communities safer. "We all should have the best protection through
fast, accurate detection of these chemicals. Not just at some chemical
weapons sites, but at all weapons sites."
CWWG Director Craig Williams said the FTIR monitoring
systems are off-the-shelf technology that could be deployed at chemical
weapons sites within months of secured funding. The total cost for
the systems are less than one-tenth of one percent of the current $25 billion
price tag for the chemical weapons disposal program. "The government
is spending billions to protect U.S. citizens from the threat of elusive
weapons of mass destruction overseas, but we think that protection needs
to begin here at home," he said.
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