CHEMICAL WEAPONS WORKING GROUP
DIRECTOR TO RECEIVE NATIONAL AWARD
This week the coalition of state
Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) announced that Craig Williams, Director
of the Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG), has been selected as the 2003
recipient of their John O'Connor Citizen Achievement Award.
The O'Connor Award is presented annually
to a person who consistently reflects the spirit and dedication of John O'Connor,
a long-time advocate for clean energy, social justice and health care for
all. He served as an organizer for Massachusetts Fair Share and was a founder
of the National Campaign Against Toxic Hazards. Unfortunately, O'Connor
died at age 46 in November 2001. He worked extensively with the state
PIRGs in winning passage of tough federal Superfund laws and led the opposition
to corporate energy deregulation.
The PIRGs coalition consists of 28
state organizations, each independent and locally-based. These groups
work cooperatively on regional and national issues such as preserving the
environment, conserving energy and natural resources, protecting consumers,
advocating social justice and protecting public health.
In a statement from the PIRGs coalition,
the following reasons for their choice of Craig Williams as this year's recipient
of the O'Connor Award were given.
"Craig Williams has spent much of
his life working for grassroots organizations promoting environmental justice.
For the past 14 years, Craig has served as Director of the Chemical Weapons
Working Group [CWWG], which advocates and mobilizes citizens around the safe
disposal of chemical weapons. During his tenure the group has helped
pass legislation that forced the Army to adopt safer means of chemical weapons
disposal, spearheaded the campaign to restructure the U.S. Army's chemical
demilitarization program - including more citizen participation, and kept
dangerous incineration projects out of several communities across the United
States. . He also has organized ten citizen summits on chemical weapons destruction
and coordinated the first Russian/American Non-Governmental Organization
Conference on Chemical Weapons Disposal. Craig embodies the spirit and commitment
that inspired the creation of the John O'Connor Achievement Award, and the
state PIRGs around the country are honored to extend this award to him."
Upon hearing of his selection, Williams stated, "It's a great privilege to
be thought of in John O'Connor's memory. He was an inspiration to all
of us who knew him and he is sorely missed. It is my intention to continue
working in his spirit and with his dedication in the interests of those who
are in harm's way due to inappropriate governmental decisions and corporate
profits."
Hundreds of thousands of citizens
who live near U.S. stockpiles of chemical weapons are facing a decade of
toxic emissions from Army incinerators. CWWG efforts have stopped chemical
weapons incineration in four of the eight U.S. weapons storage communities.
But four more communities, three with a high percentage of poor and minority
populations, continue to suffer under the daily threat from Army burn plants
in their neighborhoods. "For the CWWG," Williams said, "correcting
this environmental injustice is an ongoing challenge. We are committed to
continue fighting to ensure equal protection from exposure to these most
deadly of chemicals and their toxic by-products."
Williams will receive the award Thursday,
December 11 in Denver at the state PIRG's national meeting and staff-wide
training conference. Last year's O'Connor Award recipient was Terri
Swearingen, honored for her efforts to toughen health and safety requirements
for incinerators, implement national siting standards for hazardous waste
facilities and her leadership in the citizens' campaign against the WTI incinerator
in East Liverpool, Ohio.
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