More than 5,000 Utahns tell
Governor Leavitt:
Stop nerve gas incineration!
by Jason Groenewold
(Excerpted from the May 2000 issue of
CWWG's newsletter "Common Sense")
More than 5,000 Utahns signed a Families Against Incinerator Risk
(FAIR) petition urging Utah Governor Michael Leavitt to take leadership
to stop the US Army from continuing to burn chemical weapons (CW)
at the Tooele Chemical Weapons Demilitarization Facility (TOCDF).
The petition forms, which were delivered to the Governor's office
September 27, called for adoption of advanced technologies which
are safer than incineration.
"The message to Governor Leavitt is clear," explained
FAIR director Jason Groenewold. "Utah is downwind of the
only nerve gas incinerator in the country, and other states are
abandoning incineration because it does not work."
"The fact is that the Army's incineration program has failed
and it cannot perform as intended," said Chip Ward, vice-president
of FAIR. "Burning nerve gas emits into the air harmful toxins
that affect our nervous, reproductive and immune systems."
Ward noted that the Army has abandoned two of the six furnace
systems at the Utah plant and that they are now experimenting
with burning nerve agent in a way that has never been tested.
According to Ward, the original plans called for burning nerve
agent, metal parts and explosives in separate furnaces. Due to
the gelling of agent inside the munitions (where it was once liquid),
the Army is now burning explosives and agent in the same furnace
and they have never tested the emissions from these new operating
conditions.
Governor Leavitt has Congressional authority to stop the burning
of nerve gas if he feels the public health risks exceed an acceptable
level. FAIR and other citizen groups have cited numerous worker
exposures, agent migrations, releases and spills and system failures
at TOCDF which endanger the health and welfare of workers, the
public and the environment. They want advanced non-smokestack
technologies that do not emit harmful toxins into the air and
have tested viable for CW destruction.
FAIR thanks all the volunteers who helped with gathering the petition
signatures. Special thanks goes out to: Chad Nielson, Carrie
Norton, Rob DeBirk, Sajah, Michele Stockton, Ryan Behunin, Mike
Steeves, Sophie Windward, Diana Jorgenson, Wendy Lagerquist, Jason
Plate, and Kyle Madsen. Also, thanks to Patagonia, Wild Oats
and Park Ivy for displaying the petitions.
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