Search

This paper offers elaborations on current knowledge about social-movement framing processes and cognitive liberation, especially regarding technical controversies and not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) protest. The social-constructionist lens of the framing perspective also allows refinements in conventional explanations of NIMBY conflicts. Attention is given to the dynamics of emergence, continuity, and change in framing strategies over time in controversy regarding the U.S. Army's chemical-weapons disposal program. I focus specifically on dynamics involved in the development of cognitive liberation, particularly the framing difficulties that occur in the context of cognitive ambiguities produced by an "information haze." These ambiguities create problems for developing and linking the diagnostic, prognostic, and motivational elements of collective-action frames. I also attend to frame transformation, explaining how transformation may be both animated and constrained by a movement's opponent. I conclude that NIMBY is only one possible framing and can be transformed as the context of the dispute shifts. Moreover, framing activities in technical disputes may be particularly difficult due to the role of scientific rhetoric and experts in interpreting risks and shaping understandings of the situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hawaii Undersea Military Munitions Assessment (HUMMA) was designed to develop methodologies for surveying and assessing a historic deep-water munitions sea disposal site to determine the potential impact of the ocean environment on sea-disposed munitions and of sea-disposed munitions on the ocean environment and those that use it. HUMMA is the most comprehensive deep-water investigation conducted in the United States to look at both chemical and conventional munitions. Recognizing that each sea-disposed munitions site poses unique logistical and environmental challenges, the HUMMA approach emphasizes adaptability. Here, we describe the techniques used to determine the spatial extent and distribution of munitions, evaluate the integrity of munitions casings, and sample sediments and seawater near munitions present at water depths ranging from 330 to 550 m. We discuss integration and management of the diverse and voluminous datasets that the program produced. Notable results from HUMMA include demonstrating that reconnaissance-style mapping effectively locates distinctive trails of disposed munitions in sandy environments and that visual observations, in combination with acoustic data, constrain the poorly documented historical disposal process. Based on our findings, we conclude with several suggested future avenues of research for evaluating sea-disposed munitions sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incineration is being used or is planned as a destruction technology for stockpiles of Chemical Warfare Agents (CWA) in the USA. This paper presents the development of models for analysing a Liquid Incinerator Chamber (LIC) for destroying liquid chemical weapon agent (GB, HD or VX) drained from munitions contained in the US Army chemical weapons stockpile. The models predict complete destruction of the chemical agent when the incinerators and afterburners are operated as per standard operating conditions. Under normal operating conditions the agent is destroyed within the primary furnace chamber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the international arms control treaty the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and its implementation, with a particular focus on the concepts of safety and security. According to the authors, the CWC aims to achieve safety for the greater human community (what the authors term security) but it fails to address the safety of the individual human bodies tasked with disposing of chemical weapons or located near disposal facilities. It is suggested that security is produced through the labor of working-class men and through a rationality in bureaucracy that allows for the erasure and neglect of individuals and their needs. Topics discussed include the U.S. Army's chemical weapons incinerator on Johnston Island in the Pacific, gender roles in labor, and public relations.

The Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program Meteorological Support Project ensures the accuracy and reliability of data acquired by meteorological monitoring stations located at seven U.S. Army chemical weapons depots where storage and weapons destruction (demilitarization) activities are ongoing. The data are delivered in real time to U.S. Army plume dispersion models, which are used to plan for and respond to a potential accidental release of a chemical weapons agent. The project provides maintenance, calibration, and audit services for the instrumentation; collection, automated screening, visual inspection, and analysis of the data; and problem reporting and tracking to carefully control the data quality. The resulting high-quality meteorological data enhance emergency response modeling and public safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study that examined the theoretical and practical implications of technical adversarialism and participatory collaboration in decision-making for the U.S. Chemical Weapon Disposal Program. Information on technical adversarialism and participatory collaboration; Analysis of the case of chemical weapon disposal and its role in the examination of problems and potentials of these two approaches; Comparison of the practical consequences of both decision-making approaches and their implications.

Discusses factors underlying cost escalation and missed deadlines in the United States Army's destruction of chemical weapons. Cost estimates; Diffusion of control over the implementation process; Difficulties of the Army in adjusting strategies in the face of political change from the Cold War to the post-Cold War setting.