use strict;
use IPC::Open3;

$ENV{'LD_LIBRARY_PATH'} = '/usr/local/lib';

$COMMAND = '/some/c/proggie -w -options';

my ($read,$write,$error);
my $pid = open3($read,$write,$error,$COMMAND);
if ($pid) {
    # do stuff
} else {
    # croak, bitch and complain
}