for more information contact:
Craig Williams, (859) 986-7565
for immediate release: Friday,
November 7, 2003
CONGRESS TELLS ARMY TO USE IMPROVED
CHEMICAL AGENT MONITORS AT U.S. CHEMICAL WEAPONS DISPOSAL PLANTS
Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) announced
his Sense of the Congress provision has been included in the Conference Report
to the Fiscal Year 2004 Defense Authorization Bill, which was filed in Congress
and approved by the House of Representatives today. The Senate is expected
to vote on the Bill early next week. The provision states that
the Secretary of the Army should "deploy improved chemical agent monitors"
at all U.S. chemical weapons disposal facilities, "in order to ensure the
maximum protection of the public, personnel involved in the chemical demilitarization
program, and the environment."
The improved agent monitors would increase protection for almost one million
U.S. citizens who live near stockpiles of obsolete chemical weapons the Army
is in the process of destroying at military depots in eight states:
Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Oregon and Utah.
Those residents most impacted by the Army's currently inadequate monitors
are those living in the four states where the weapons are being destroyed
by incinerators: Alabama, Arkansas, Oregon and Utah. The Army planned
to operate these burn plants for up to 9 more years using its outdated monitoring
system which is unable to quickly and reliably identify and quantify chemical
agent which might escape the facilities, The incinerators operated
in Utah and the Pacific have had numerous agent releases over the past decade.
Weapons at the remaining four sites will be destroyed using neutralization,
a safer contained process without smokestacks, eliminating a major direct
pathway for agent releases. The provision, however, covers all storage
and disposal sites.
Whatever the destruction process employed, the Congressional provision is
good news for residents and workers at all eight storage sites. Community
advocates for safe chemical weapons disposal hailed the effort as an important
step toward protecting communities from exposure to lethal chemical agents.
Most jubilant, perhaps, are residents in the highly-populated city of Anniston,
Alabama, where the Army fired up its chemical weapons incinerator last August.
Brenda Lindell, a mother and anti-burn activist in Anniston, said, "I welcome
any and all efforts from our government to help identify more quickly and
accurately what is coming out of that smokestack." Lindell added,
"With the current monitoring system, it can take 20 minutes or longer to
verify a chemical agent release. For a city like ours, with so many
people living so close to the Depot, every minute counts."
Craig Williams, Director of the Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG), said,
"For years, the National Research Council (NRC), nearby residents and local
governmental agencies have called for improved, faster monitoring as a safety
measure for stockpile communities, yet the Army ignored such requests.
Today Congress added its strong voice to that call in order to better keep
workers and citizens safe from these lethal materials."
The Sense of the Congress monitoring provision, initiated last June by Senator
Bunning, was supported by other legislators from seven of the eight
chemical weapons stockpile states -- Utah being the only state not participating.
Sen. Bunning commented on the success of this effort, "I am pleased
that I have been able to work with my Republican and Democrat colleagues
from the House and Senate to include this important language in the final
version of the Defense Authorization Act. This is common sense stuff,
and I am eager to move forward to help better protect citizens, personnel
in the chemical demilitarization program, and our environment."
According to NRC reports, the, "The relatively slow response of the
ACAMS (Area Continuous Agent Monitoring System) means that, in the event
of a sudden release of agent, plant workers and the local population might
be exposed to a concentration of agent above acceptable levels." and " The
sampling of the DAAMS (Depot Area Agent Monitoring System) range from one
hour when detecting in the exhaust stacks, to eight hours when monitoring
plant work areas, and twelve hours at the site perimeter."
Karyn Jones of the Hermiston, Oregon group GASP, said she appreciated that
both Oregon Senators Wyden and Smith and Representative Walden, supported
improved monitoring systems. "This is one of the most basic levels
of protection for workers and the public," she said. "We welcome any
and all efforts from our government to help identify more quickly and accurately
what is coming out of that smokestack."
Concerning available improves monitors, the NRC has reported, "Recent advances
in monitoring technology could reduce false alarm rates and decrease response
times." and that such monitors, "could have a response time on the
order of 10 seconds or less."
Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama said, "It is important for the Army and
the safety of the community that the most advanced, real-time monitoring
technology be used in the chemical demilitarization program. I was
happy to support the Bunning amendment. The current technology is outdated
and the Army should undertake a study as quickly as possible to implement
new technology."
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