WHEREAS, Presidential Executive Order Number 12898 states that, "... each Federal Agency shall make achieving Environmental Justice part of its mission by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of its programs, policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income populations in the United States...", and,

WHEREAS, Forty years ago, The United States Army brought, 2,300 tons of Sarin (GB), VX and mustard gas into Calhoun County under a cloak of secrecy, and

WHEREAS, These chemical agents are the deadliest compounds on the face of the earth, and

WHEREAS, The United States Army chose to store these agents, which are contained in 660,000 munitions and armaments as well as bulk storage containers at the Anniston Army Depot (ANAD), which is located in the middle of a population center, and

WHEREAS, The residents of the communities and neighborhoods closest to the Anniston Army Depot are disproportionately African-American and lower income populations, and

WHEREAS, These neighborhoods have a disproportionate number of African-American and lower income senior citizens, single parent families, children and handicapped individuals, and

WHEREAS, The U.S. Army plans to destroy this chemical weapon stockpile using an open combustion incinerator which has been constructed next to the stockpile in the middle of this population center, and

WHEREAS, The two previous incinerators operated by the Army at Johnson Atoll and Tooele, Utah have experienced chronic upset conditions, technical malfunctions, power outages and other events labeled by the Army as "unusual incidents," which have led to chemical weapons agent (CWA) releases and nonprotective levels of other toxic emissions, and

WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection Agency admits that this incinerator will emit into the atmosphere, during normal plant operations, the following chemicals: CWA, dioxins, lead, mercury, chromium, cadmium, PCBs and other carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic health impacting chemicals, and

WHEREAS, This ANAD incinerator will release higher levels of these materials under upset conditions, and

WHEREAS, Whereas, residents of communities and neighborhoods living near the chemical stockpile have already been exposed to excessive levels of PCBs, lead and mercury, and

WHEREAS, The Secretary of Defense has a statutory duty to provide "maximum protection" to the citizens living near a chemical weapons stockpile, and in attempting to meet this "maximum protection" duty the Army and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have produced a Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Guidebook recommending Calhoun County officials instruct the 36,000 residents living closest to the chemical weapons stockpile to attempt to place duct tape and plastic sheeting around their windows and doors in less than eight minutes as their only means of protection in the event of a chemical accident at ANAD, and

WHEREAS, The Calhoun County Commission has refused to accept the Guidebook's recommendations because the Guidebook is based on numerous false and faulty assumptions regarding the true toxicity of the chemical agents stored at ANAD, as well as numerous other errors, and because the Commission believes duct tape and plastic sheeting will not protect the 36,000 citizens closest to the chemical weapons stockpile, and

WHEREAS, Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, in response to letters from the Calhoun County Commission, has written to Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld and President Bush stating unequivocally that the Governor will not allow the State of Alabama to begin destroying these chemical weapons until: the true toxicity of these agents have been determined; an independent toxicologist has been hired and paid for by the federal government to verify the federal government's findings; a critical software upgrade for Calhoun County's EMA has been fully developed and installed; proper 24 hour manning of the Calhoun County EMA has been provided; an early warning system involving emergency preparedness personnel at ANAD has been instituted; all the tone alert radios have been installed; the 3,900 individuals in Calhoun County with special needs and who can not protect themselves in the event of an accident have been properly taken care of; the 38 hospitals, schools, nursing homes and senior citizens centers in Calhoun County that the Army FEMA promised in 1995 to collectively protect have been fully overpressurized; and

WHEREAS, Governor Siegelman has the clear authority to prevent the destruction process at ANAD from being allowed to begin until all of these safety measures are fully implemented and the federal government has met its statutory duty to provide "maximum protection" to these citizens, and

WHEREAS, The Department of Defense has identified and successfully demonstrated non- incineration disposal technologies that would eliminate or significantly reduce the possibility of the release of CWA, dioxins, lead, mercury, chromium, cadmium, PCBs and other carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic health impacting chemicals, and

WHEREAS, Failure to provide the "maximum protection" statutory requirement would violate Presidential Executive Order Number 12898, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and EPA Regulations providing for nondiscrimination in programs receiving federal assistance under 40 C.F.R. Part 7B:

THEREFORE, be it resolved by the 2001 Southern Christian Leadership Conference National Convention that:

1) The federal government has failed to meet its statutory duty to provide "maximum protection" to the people of Calhoun County in general and to the African American communities in West and South Anniston in particular, and
2) The federal government has failed to ensure the protection of the rights of the minority populations surrounding ANAD under Presidential Executive Order Number 12898, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and EPA Regulations providing for nondiscrimination in programs receiving federal assistance under 40 C.F.R. Part 7B, and
3) The federal government's proposed protective action recommendation of duct tape and plastic sheeting is wholly inadequate for the African American community, which is composed disproportionately of senior citizens, single parent families, children who are oftentimes unsupervised after school, and individuals whose immune systems have already been compromised due to excessive exposure to PCBs, mercury and lead, which were illegally dumped into the local Anniston environment for many years, and
4) Alabama Governor Don Siegelman has shown both foresight and leadership by publicly informing Secretary Rumsfeld and President Bush that he will not allow the destruction process to proceed until every item enumerated by his April 25, 2001 letter has been fully complied with, and
5) The Calhoun County Commission has also shown both foresight leadership by refusing to accept the Army and FEMA's proposed protective action recommendation and to adopt the use of the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Guidebook, and
6) Calhoun County Commissioner James "Pappy" Dunn has shown great dedication and determination in his actions regarding this issue in the best interests of the Alabama African- American community, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the SCLC National Convention that:

1) The issues presented by the chemical weapons stockpile in Calhoun County raise serious questions of racial and environmental injustice which require the immediate attention of the Congressional Black Caucus, and
2) The inability of the federal government to remedy each of the problems discussed by Governor Siegelman and identified by the Calhoun County Commission and referenced in this resolution shows that the current incineration technology is not a viable approach for destroying the chemical weapons stockpile in Calhoun County and requires that the incinerator be retrofitted with an alternative technology which is less intrusive and more environmentally benign for the destruction of the stockpile.
3) The governor of the State of Alabama along with all Alabama Federal elected officials be provided a copy of this Resolution.

Signed: Board of Directors, SCLC Date: August 8, 2001