for more information contact:
Craig Williams 859-986-7565
for immediate release: Friday, December 7, 2001
KY SENATOR PUSHES ARMY ON CHEMICAL WEAPONS DISPOSAL
Senator McConnell Introduces Bill Seeking Expeditious Nerve Agent Destruction
An amendment attached to next year's Department of Defense spending bill, directs the Secretary of the Army to report to Congress by mid-March on the risks communities face by waiting on the Army's incineration program to destroy nerve and blister agents stored at six sites nationwide.
The amendment, introduced by Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), requires a review of the increased risk the chemical weapons pose in light of the September 11 terrorist attacks. In addition, McConnell wants the Army to assess the risk of continuing to store these weapons in communities now that the Army's new disposal schedule shows that incineration could take as long as 15 more years to destroy the munitions.
McConnell's amendment also requires consideration of an alternative destruction approach--disassembly of the weapons and neutralization of the agents. According to the amendment, the Army already has engineering and safety contingency plans in place to deploy this approach and studies by the National Academy of Sciences show that disassembly/neutralization would meet international treaty requirements and eliminate the risk of agent exposures to citizens.
Revised incineration schedules released by the Department of Defense in October, showed that the Army's incineration program, originally slated to complete chemical weapons disposal by 1994, now could take until 2016.
The increased risk of terrorist attacks, in conjunction with the ever lengthening incineration schedules, has created a need to take a careful look at viable options to expedite the Army's chemical weapons disposal program. "The goal is simple - - render the stockpiles safe so that the surrounding community can live without fear," said McConnell.
The Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG), a coalition of citizen organizations located at stockpile sites across the country, applauded McConnell's move. "Based on the information we've received, the approach of taking the weapons apart and eliminating the agent risk by chemical treatment can lift the cloud from these communities much faster and with a higher level of protection than continuing down the incineration path," said CWWG director Craig Williams. Army documents show that chemical weapons incinerators emit toxic chemicals on a chronic basis and that live warfare agents have escaped from the smokestacks on at least 16 occasions.
"Neutralization is a proven, mature method of agent destruction.
Unlike incineration, it is simple and controllable," said
Williams. "It's time for the Army to put the well being of
citizens in communities with chemical weapons stockpiles first.
Implementing the disassembly/neutralization option would
eliminate agent risk quickly and safely."
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