CSWAB UPDATE
National Study on Safe Alternatives to Burning Munitions Underway
Open Sessions will be Webcast
The Cease Fire Campaign has taken another major step forward in its nationwide grassroots initiative to ensure the safe disposal of our country’s conventional munitions stockpile. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS) – which has been tasked by Congress with identifying safer alternatives to open air burning and detonation – will hold the first meeting of the Committee on Alternatives for the Demilitarization of Conventional Munitions on August 22-23, 2017 in Washington, DC.
Despite decades of advancement in alternative technologies, the military routinely relies on open burning/open detonation (OB/OD) to dispose of waste conventional munitions, at a high cost to human health and environment. OB/OD disperses toxic heavy metals including chromium and lead, energetic compounds, perchlorate, nitrogen oxides and other munitions-related contaminants to the environment – placing the health of soldiers, workers and nearby communities at risk.
The NAS study is mandated by federal legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) as part of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act. The committee’s final report is due to Congress in 18 months.
MEETING WEBCAST:
At Senator Baldwin’s request, the open sessions of the NAS meeting will be webcast on August 22 from 9:30am-5:00pm ET and on August 23rd from 10:15am-5:30pm ET. To register for the webcast, go to http://conventionaldemil1.eventbrite.com
HOW TO HELP:
Sign our petition to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and all 10 EPA Regions supporting safe alternatives to OB/OD.
https://cswab.org/cease-fire-campaign/cease-fire-petition/
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
https://cswab.org/cease-fire-campaign
Laura Olah | Executive Director | CSWAB.org
P: 608 643 3124 | info@cswab.org | www.twitter.com/CSWAB