Today the Kentucky Environmental Foundation (KEF) will launch a 40-day Indiegogo campaign to raise money for a documentary highlighting the life and work of the organization’s founder, Craig Williams.
After returning from the Vietnam War, Craig Williams looked forward to some normalcy. But in 1984, when he discovered that the Department of Defense planned to incinerate over 500 tons of toxic nerve gas and other chemical agents stockpiled near his small Kentucky hometown, Williams began the fight of his life.
Williams, a veteran and former Madison County cabinetmaker, organized an international grassroots coalition of stakeholders dedicated to safe chemical weapons disposal: The Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG). Through dedicated grassroots organizing, policy development and advocacy, the CWWG succeeded in passing groundbreaking federal legislation, ultimately forcing the Pentagon to abandon plans to incinerate weapons of mass destruction stored in four chemical weapons stockpiles across the United States, including the Blue Grass Army Depot stockpile near Williams’ hometown of Berea, Kentucky.
For his work with KEF’s Chemical Weapons Working Group, Williams won the Goldman Environmental Prize (known as the environmental Nobel) in 2006. Last year, he was honored to give a presentation to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Conference of States Parties convened at The Hague, Netherlands.
The documentary, titled “NERVE” after the potent chemical weapon nerve gas, will be directed by Kentucky activist and filmmaker Ben Evans. Evans directed the award winning film YERT: Your Environmental Road Trip in 2011.
KEF will make the documentary to honor organization’s 25th anniversary, and the global fight against chemical weapons incineration. The goal of the film is to expose audiences to the realities of chemical weapons disposal, and the dangers incineration poses for towns and communities across the world.
“We believe highlighting Craig’s work with CWWG will illustrate how grassroots activism can change everything, and to inspire others to join the fight,” says KEF Director Heather Warman. <span “mso-bidi-font-family:=”” times;color:#1f1f1f”=””>
KEF is launching a fundraising campaign on Indiegogo.com, where the trailer is available to view.
Nerve Trailer
Nerve Website
Nerve Facebook
