When Post-Cold War Worlds Collide: Chemical Weapons Destruction Meets Environmental Politics

Emergency workers wearing protective gear plug a hole in the side of a railroad tanker near Dunsmore, California. The car spilled 19,000 gallons of a powerful weed killer into the Sacramento River in July of 1991 and was pulled from the river. The spill demonstrates the risks of transporting chemical weapons. AP/Wide World Photo

Linda Koplovitz, a founding member of Concerned Citizens for Maryland’s Environment, lives near the Army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground. Photo by APF Fellow James Borg

An operator of Pine Bluff Arsenal, wearing protective respiratory equipment, prepares cans of frozen chemicals for destruction. U.S. Army Photo

Angela Dooley (at lectern), of Pine Bluff, AK and Craig Williams (seated at right) of Berea, KY were part of the International Chemical Weapons Disposal Citizens Summit held in Richmond, KY last year. Williams is a member of Common Ground, one of the summit’s sponsors. Photo by APF Fellow James Borg

Sergey Fomichov, a magazine editor in Dzerzhinsk, Russia, fought the opening of a chemical weapons disposal plant in Chapayevsk. He, joined the U S. opponents of weapons disposal at the Kentucky summit. Photo by APF Fellow James Borg

Pete Conroy, president of the Alabama Conservancy, fears the environmental effects in his home town of Anniston, which is next in line for a chemical weapons incinerator. Photo by APF Fellow James Borg

Ventura County hazardous materials teams examine the toxic spill which occurred after a Southern Pacific freight train derailed in the beach community of Seacliff, Calif., causing evacuations and closing the 101 freeway to all traffic in both directions. AP/Wide World Photo