for more information contact:
Craig Williams 859-986-7565
(cell) 859-302-1103
for immediate release December 12, 2001
Today Secretary of the Army Thomas White announced that responsibility for the Chemical Demilitarization Program (CDP) is being taken out of the Army's Acquisitions Office and moved to the Army's Environmental Office. This shift places oversight of the CDP in the hands of Dr. Mario Fiori, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations and Environment.
Secretary White's announcement has been eagerly anticipated by community groups at chemical weapons stockpile sites across the country since U.S. Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Richard Shelby (R-AL) called for restructuring of the CDP last May. In his letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, McConnell expressed his "frustration with the alarming lack of oversight and accountability in the program" and accused program officials of "providing misleading testimony and ignoring the concerns raised by citizens who are directly impacted by the program." Shelby's letter to Secretary Rumsfeld also cited the "lack of accountability within this program."
These Congressional calls for reform came on the heels of an April hearing before the Senate Subcommitte on Defense Appropriations at which CDP officials provided erroneous information to the Subcommittee concerning the schedule, cost and safety of the Army's chemical weapons incineration program. Subsequent to the hearing, the CDP continued to come under fire by Congressional leaders and community organizations for obfuscation and haphazard management.
Craig Williams, national spokesperson for the Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG), said that the national coalition of community groups working for safe disposal welcomes today's shift in responsibility. "Up until now, there has really been no oversight of the Army's chemical weapons disposal program," he said. "Program officials have been able to lie and deny with impunity."
The specific changes that will occur under this new leadership have yet to be announced, but in light of the recent revelations concerning increased program cost and schedule slippages, the restructuring is clearly a step in the right direction. However, according to the CWWG, new leadership must be accompanied by a change in the program's preferred technology of incineration if the program is going to be able complete the disposal task safely and expeditiously . "A bad technology operated by incompetent officials has been a recipe for failure," Williams commented. "We look forward to working with Dr. Fiori toward a solution for the disposal issue that will provide maximum protection to all stockpile communities."
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