The global challenge of eliminating and cleaning up Cold War weapons requires a response that is global in scope.

The Legacy Program is an international effort by Global Green USA, the US affiliate of Green Cross International, and Green Cross affiliates in Belarus, Canada, Germany, Italy, Russia, Switzerland and the Ukraine. Operating on the principle of “cooperation, not confrontation,” the Legacy Program facilitates the complex process of demilitarization through education, outreach and dialogue across local, state and national borders.

The Legacy Program maintains a strong commitment to transparency, accountability, and communication as the foundation for successful threat reduction and engages all parties, from high-level policymakers to experts to local communities, in the search for the safest and most responsible road to peace.

Specifically, the Legacy Program implements public outreach and education programs on issues related to demilitarization, threat reduction and nonproliferation, including military base cleanup and conversion, emergency-preparedness, protection of public health and environment, and the socio-economic stability of communities impacted by weapons stockpiles.

All around the world, stockpiles of chemical and nuclear weapons, biological pathogens, conventional weapons and related materials threaten human health and the environment and pose a tremendous risk to global security.

Operating on the principle of “cooperation, not confrontation,” Global Green’s Legacy Program advocates the safe and sound elimination of weapons of mass destruction and conventional weapons and facilitates cleanup of related military materials and waste.

In partnership with our Green Cross affiliates in Switzerland and Russia, where together we have set up and managed 12 Public Outreach Offices at Chemical Weapons stockpile and other sensitive sites, we facilitate this process by:

• Educating U.S. and foreign policy-makers on the importance of support for nonproliferation, arms control, and demilitarization worldwide;
  
• Providing public health and environment-related information and emergency-preparedness training to weapons stockpile communities;
  
• Promoting transparency, accountability and collaboration around issues of demilitarization and nonproliferation through international meetings, exchanges, and media outreach.

There are literally thousand of chemical substances that are poisonous to humans. About 70 different chemical agents (classified based on their specific properties) have been used in the manufacture of chemical weapons.

Following is a description of the tremendous impact these agents can have on human life and health -- not to mention the repercussions on our land, water, and air -- should a weapon accidently be detonated by natural disaster or terrorist action.

World War I victims of mustard gas. (Photos Courtesy of US Army)

Dover Air Force Base bomb disposal technician burned in 2004 by mustard gas shell in driveway. (Photo courtesy of US Army)

Impact of Chemical Agents

• Choking Agents: victims breathes in poison gas, fluid builds up in lungs, choking the victim.
  
• Blister Agents: victim absorbs poison through lungs or skin, causing burning of windpipe and lungs.
  
• Blood Agents: poison is absorbed through lungs, eliminating ability to absorb oxygen and strangling the heart.

Dr. Paul F. Walker -- Legacy Program Director

Cristian Ion -- Legacy Program Associate

Finn R. Torgrimsen Longinotto -- Legacy Senior Fellow

>>Read their bios and others' from Global Green USA

For more information, contact the Legacy Program office:
Global Green USA
1717 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036-2002, USA
Phone: 202-222-0700 | Fax: 202-222-0703
cion@globalgreen.org | pwalker@globalgreen.org