Hearing on Incinerator Restraining Order Set for
August 8; Burn Plan Held Off for Now
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
or 302-1103
for immediate release: Tuesday, August 5, 2003
HEARING ON INCINERATOR RESTRAINING
ORDER SET FOR
FRIDAY, AUGUST 8; BURN PLAN HELD OFF FOR NOW
After a brief and confusing meeting in front of U.S. District Judge Thomas
Penfield Jackson today, the hearing on a motion for a restraining order against
the Army's chemical weapons incinerator has been rescheduled for Friday,
August 8. The Army has agreed to refrain from moving forward with any
disposal operations or associated activities until Friday after the Judge
has ruled on the motion.
Judge Jackson had originally proposed that the hearing take place Friday,
but the Army rejected that request so the judge scheduled the hearing for
noon today. Then, in a turnaround of events, at the noon hearing, a
Department of Justice attorney, representing the Army, interrupted plaintiff
attorney Richard Condit's opening argument and stated to the Judge that he
had just received authorization to agree to a Friday hearing.
Musing over these events, Anniston resident David Christian, a businessman
and father of two children, said, "All we have heard from the Army
this past week, is how the risk of stockpile storage is so great that they
can't wait to start burning, even though much of the community is completely
unprepared in the event of a chemical agent incident. That argument simply
doesn't hold any water, and we look forward to present all the evidence to
the Judge on Friday."
The motion for a restraining order was filed on the basis that citizens in
and around Anniston will suffer irreparable harm if the incinerator is allowed
to operate, and is supported by the affidavits of several local residents
who have not received sufficient protective equipment from the government
as promised, and who are already suffering ill health from previous exposure
to PCBs and chemical agents.
Citizens in Anniston and elsewhere in the surrounding region have vowed to
do "whatever it takes" to protect their families from exposure to toxic incinerator
emissions. They are urging the Army and U.S. government to use safer,
non-incineration technologies that can prevent uncontrolled release of chemical
agent into the environment in the first place. Those safer methods
will be used to destroy chemical weapons at four other U.S. stockpile sites.
Craig Williams, Director of the Chemical Weapons Working Group, one of the
plaintiffs in the case, said "The dangers associated with incineration are
clear, and the Anniston community should not be expected to bear that burden
when their is a safer, faster alternative."
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