Richmond Register
November 13, 2001

Group says there are other ways to destroy chemical weapons

OXFORD, Ala. (AP) -

Looking for a safer way to destroy chemical weapons, opponents of incineration unveiled their plan Monday.

The best way to destroy the nation's stockpile of lethal munitions is to disassemble them and then chemically neutralize the nerve agent, said Craig Williams, head of the Berea-based Chemical Weapons Working Group. That way, they can be safely stored or destroyed.

Incineration opponents told the Anniston Star on Monday they would call on President Bush to form a panel to study their idea in the next 60 days. The group wants Bush to halt incineration while a panel of public health officials, military officials, environmental agencies, citizens and governors of the affected states review their 'proposal, Williams said. "The scientific evidence shows that our approach is viable, it is safe, and it will significantly reduce the time these agents are exposed to the commumity," Williams said.

But Army officials said they doubt such a simple plan would work. It could be dangerous and time-consuming to disassemble so many munitions, said Lt. Col. Bruce Williams. "It does not appear as though they've put a lot of thought into doing that very hard work," Williams said.

The Anniston Army Depot has more than 661,000 chemical weapons including rockets, land mines, artillery shells, mortar rounds and bulk containers in storage. Weapons like the nerve agents sarin and VX also are kept there. The 1987 Chemical Weapons Convention requires the United States to destroy its stockpileby 2007. An incinerator is scheduled to begin destroying the weapons in June 2002.