Chemical Weapons Working Group
PO Box 467
Berea, KY 40403
Phone: (606) 986-7565 Fax: (606) 986-2695
kefwilli@acs.eku.edu www.cwwg.org
for immediate release: Thursday, October 14, 1999
TOP-GUN OF ARMY'S CHEM DEMIL PROGRAM RESIGNS: ACTIVISTS HAIL HIS DEPARTURE
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army Quits Amid Accusations of
Hiding Funds, Illegal Lobbying and Misrepresentation
On June 16,1999, the Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG), a coalition of anti
-incineration citizens groups at U.S. chemical weapons stockpile sites, formally called
for the resignation of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Chemical
Demilitarization, Dr. Theodore Prociv. Now, less than four months later, Dr. Prociv
announced that he would be leaving office to accept a position in private industry
effective November 1.
The basis for the CWWG action was their belief, later confirmed in reports by the
Pentagon's Comptroller and the GAO, that Prociv had misrepresented the fiscal
capability within the Chemical Demilitarization budget to fund the demonstrations of
alternative disposal technologies to incineration as directed by Congress. These
reports revealed that while Prociv was claiming the $25 million needed to fulfill the
Congressional directive was not available, close to $1 billion in the budget hadn't been
expended.
In a June 1999 letter to Secretary of the Army Louis Caldara, CWWG spokesperson,
Craig Williams wrote, "Dr. Prociv has misrepresented the fiscal situation within the
Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program to hundreds of citizens, Congressional Staff and
his own superiors in an effort to derail the objectives of the Alternative Chemical
Weapons Assessment (ACWA) program. Under these circumstances, Mr. Secretary, I
respectfully request that you ask for, and insist on, the resignation of Dr. Prociv."
Although Prociv has admitted no wrongdoing, he has now announced that he will
resign. "He brought this on himself," said Williams, "He had an opportunity to live up
to his contentions to the ACWA representatives and others that he supported the
efforts to ensure the safest disposal methods would be used to rid the communities of
these weapons. However it is obvious his real agenda was to keep the incineration
program alive while sabotaging the alternatives process."
The question remains as to whether the position will be filled or the office dissolved.
Prior to the office being created in 1997 the oversight of the program was at the
Pentagon under Prociv.
Earlier this year the House Defense Appropriations Committee moved to cut the entire
budget of Prociv's office for what they called disturbing evidence of "individuals
employed by the DoD having visited the Congress with paid consultants to 'promote'
the chemical agents and munitions destruction [incineration] program."
More recently, consultants from Prociv's office were sent to Pueblo, Colorado to
"pressure" local elected officials to "lobby" Congress to move forward with the
incineration program. This activity has been reported to the Pentagon Inspector
General's Office and is under review for investigation.
According to Williams, "This behavior flies in the face of Prociv's statements to
Congress in which he iterated that, 'the Chemical Demilitarization Program is pro-destruction;
not pro-incineration.' His office has consistently misrepresented its agenda on technologies and the capability
of the incineration program to complete the mission in compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)."
The CWC mandates that the U.S. dispose of all its chemical weapons by April 2007,
with a one time extension of five years as necessary. Prociv has maintained that
incineration is the only way to achieve the 2007 deadline while downplaying the
extension provision within the Treaty.
"In order to allow the Army to continue building incinerators, Prociv and others in the
Demilitarization Office have perpetuated the myth that only burning can get the
weapons destroyed by 2007," said Williams. "This has created an unecessary and
dangerous atmosphere of schedule over safety, just what we don't need if we are to
destroy these weapons properly."
Williams added, "I hope that with the departure of Dr. Prociv, the Army and
Department of Defense will take advantage of the opportunity to put someone in
charge of this program who has public health and environmental protection as high
priorities. With the right attitude at the top, all the objectives of the chemical
weapons demilitarization program can be accomplished as safely as possible and in a
timely manner. It will take some leadership with integrity, and now is the time to
make sure such leadership is put in place."
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