Non-Stockpile Chemical Weapons Citizens Coalition
P.O. Box 467
Berea, KY 40403
(859) 986-7565 (2695 -fax)
kefwilli@acs.eku.edu www.cwwg.org
for more information contact:
Elizabeth Crowe (859) 986-0868
for immediate release: Wednesday, June 14, 2000
NON-STOCKPILE COALITION REVEALS INFORMATION ON
IMPROPER HANDLING AND UNSAFE TREATMENT
OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS WASTES
A letter to Army chemical weapons disposal program officials by the Non-Stockpile Chemical Weapons Citizens Coalition (Non-Stockpile Coalition) today revealed information showing the unsafe, inefficient handling and incineration of hazardous secondary wastes from Army "non-stockpile chemical materiel" disposal processes. Citing Army contractor Safety Kleen's financial problems, a facility safety audit, and disturbing waste manifests, the Non-Stockpile Coalition is urging the Army to abandon plans for incineration of these wastes in favor of safer disposal technologies.
Non-stockpile chemical materiel are chemical warfare items including abandoned weapons, chemical agent identification sets, binary weapons and other miscellaneous wastes which are not part of the Army's chemical weapons stockpile. Secondary wastes from two non-stockpile materiel disposal technologies, the Rapid Response System (RRS) and Munitions Management Device - 1 (MMD-1), are managed by Safety-Kleen (formerly Laidlaw), which has sent these hazardous wastes to its commercial incinerators in Aragonite, Utah; Deer Park, Texas; and Coffeeville, Kansas.
In the Coalition's letter, the group's coordinator Elizabeth Crowe stated, "Given that the NSCMP [the Army's Non-Stockpile Chemical Materiel Program] intends to begin full operations of the RRS and MMD-1 this Summer, we urge you to act now to determine safer, more efficient means of [secondary waste] disposal using advanced non-incineration technologies....We do not characterize the current secondary waste disposal strategy as either safe or efficient."
Manifests tracking the shipment and treatment of these secondary wastes, obtained by the Coalition through a Freedom of Information Act request, show that on numerous occasions, shipments of waste were sent from one Safety-Kleen facility to another. One waste shipment passed through at least four states (Utah, Texas, Kansas and those in between) for a period of more than 45 days before being incinerated at a Utah Safety-Kleen facility not far from where the waste originated.
An independent safety audit on Safety-Kleen's Deer Park, Texas incinerator documented 47 serious safety incidents over a two-year period, including fires, explosions and emergency vent releases. In addition, the audit notes problems with the incineration of unauthorized wastes, improper smokestack monitoring, problems with waste manifests and profiles, and more.
Coalition member LaNell Anderson, who lives near the Deer Park, Texas incinerator said, "Knowing the facts about the Deer Park incinerator and the way these chemical agent wastes are being handled shattered my confidence in the non-stockpile disposal program. Knowing that safer, more efficient disposal technologies exist makes me wonder why the Army continues to use these old, ineffective technologies which endanger our health."
Several non-incineration technologies have been identified and demonstrated in the private sector and through the Army's Assembled Chemical Weapons Assessment program. The NCSMP is reviewing the possibility of using these non-incineration technologies for disposal of secondary wastes. The Non-Stockpile Coalition recommends the temporary storage of secondary wastes "until such time as NSCMP is in a position to take advantage of these technologies."
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A copy of the Non-Stockpile Coalition's letter is available on request, or click here.
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