Richmond Register
June 30, 2003

Meeting sparked 19-year fight for executive director of Chemical Weapons Working Group

By Jodi Whitaker Register News Writer

Craig Williams remembers attending a public meeting 19 years ago, where the U.S. Army announced chemical weapons stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot would be disposed of, using its preferred method of disposal was incineration.

At the end of the meeting, the floor was opened for questions.

"I raised my hand, and I've had it up for 19 years," Williams said.

Williams, executive director of the local Chemical Weapons Working Group, has made making sure chemical weapons stored in Richmond - or any other location for that matter - are not burned as a method of disposal.

"It seemed fairly outrageous conceptually to be proposing to burn chemical weapons in the middle of a populated area, or anywhere for that matter," Williams said.

So Williams and others who were skeptical about incineration started talking about the issue.

"We realized there were people in Richmond, Berea and surrounding areas, who, once they heard about it, shared their concerns."

From there, people started gathering to talk about an alternative method of disposal.

"Our primary interest has always been not on stopping the disposal of these things, but making sure safety is the number one priority," Williams said. "It became apparent pretty quickly, though, that wasn't necessarily everyone's priority. So we continued to educate ourselves and share ideas."

Williams said the Kentucky Environmental Foundation was formed when people decided something simply needed to be done to make chemical weapons be destroyed in a different manner.

"Eventually, we decided this was not going to be something we could stop by having monthly meetings and an occasional spaghetti dinner," Williams said. "There needed to be a focus on the issue.'

That focus spurred the formation of the KEF in 1990, a group aimed at focusing on the issues.

From that, the CWWG was formed in 1991 to help others concerned about incineration participate in finding a better way.

"The CWWG was based on the idea that, if there are that many people at this location that are feeling way, it's likely there are a number of people at other (chemical weapons) sites that also feel this way," Williams said. "We decided it would probably be a good idea to figure out who they are and network with them so we could all benefit from similar knowledge and concerns. That was the genesis of the CWWG."

In 1991, the CWWG had its first international citizens' conference on chemical weapons in Richmond, attended by representatives of all the chemical weapon sties in the United States and Russia.

"We all shared the same concerns," Williams said. "Getting rid of this stuff quickly but with the concerns of the citizens on mind as well."

Williams said his favorite part of the work he's done through the years is the people he's met along the way.

"The most rewarding aspect of all of this has been to meet and become allied with so many dedicated and hard-working people who are willing to devote their time to the best interest of their families and there communities," Williams said. "Everywhere I go, there are lots of people who are volunteers, who really have engaged this issue. That's been very rewarding."

Williams saw his hard work pay off for Madison county in February, when the Army made the final announcement that chemical weapons stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot would be destroyed using an alternative method - neutralization using super critical water oxidation.

"Once they identified an option that was not incineration, we were confident that we had stopped the original plan," Williams said. "That was really the point we had been working toward all those years."

But until the Record of Decision was signed in February, Williams said he was careful to not get his hopes up.

"We had been saying for years that there were other ways to get to get the job done," Williams said. "But it ain't over until the fat lady sings. We never felt 100 percent sure that we would be successful until the Record of Decision came out in February."

Williams grew up in New York City, and moved to Madison County in 1974 to finish his philosophy degree at Eastern Kentucky University in 1974.

After EKU, Williams applied to law school at UK and was accepted, but quit after a year after a divorce left him as a single parent.

Williams has been married to his wife, Teri, for 22 years now, and they have two children - a daughter, Laurel, who will be a senior at Berea Community High School next year, and a son, Dustin, who is a sophomore at the University of Kentucky who made the dean's list last semester.

Dustin was with his father during the first interview Williams did on the incineration issue, and it's a moment Williams will never forget.

"During first television interview I did about this issue, my now 20-year-old son, who is now 6-4 and weighs 225 pounds, was on my hip," Williams said. "When asked why I was doing what I was doing, I pointed to him and said 'this is why I'm doing what I'm doing.'

"That sums it up, at least for me."

Jodi Whitaker can be reached at jwhitaker@richmondregister.com. Story created Monday, June 30, 2003.