Re: Pollution Prevention

[Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@igc.org>]

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 FOR YOUR INFORMATION
 from the
 SIERRA CLUB
 HAZARDOUS MATERIALS COMMITTEE &
 POLLUTION CAMPAIGN STEERING COMMITTEE
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Pollution News #100

 GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT
 __________________________________________________________

For immediate release: For further information:
October 13, 1994 Joanne Royce 202 408-0034
 or Jeff Ruch

 FIRED NERVE GAS SAFETY INSPECTOR FILES WHISTLEBLOWER COMPLAINT;
 CONTRACTOR TOLD HIM "DON'T PUT ANYTHING NEGATIVE IN WRITING"
 ABOUT CONTROVERSIAL TOOELE, UTAH INCINERATOR'S PROBLEMS

 The former Safety/Security Manager for the Tooele (Utah) Army Chemical De-
militarization Facility, Steven Jones, today filed a whistleblower com-
plaint with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) charging that his sudden
dismissal last month resulted from his reports of environmental and public
health hazards at the facility. Jones' action was taken under the provi-
sions of several federal laws which protect employees who report viola-
tions.

 Jones is represented by the Government Accountability Project (G.A.P),
anon-profit whistleblower defense organization based in Washington, D.C.
and Seattle. The complaint will trigger a DOL investigation which must be
completedin 30 days.

 Jones, a decorated inspector with both the U.S. Navy and the Army Materiel
Command, was fired less than three months after he was recruited by EG&G
Defense Materials, Inc., a private engineering company which is building
the Tooele facility for the Army, to oversee plant safety. According to
the complaint:

 - On his first day at the Tooele incinerator, Henry Silvestri, EG&G's
 General Manager for the facility ordered Jones not to contact any out-
 side government personnel about conditions within the facility. Sil-
 vestri further ordered Jones to bar Tooele Army Depot safety personnel
 from entering the facility.

 - In early August, in response to a memo Jones wrote detailing safety
 deficiencies, Silvestri reproved Jones, telling him, "Don't ever put
 anything negative about the plant in writing."

 - The Tooele incinerator was operated under the auspices of a special-
 ized Army unit called the Program Manager for Chemical Demilitarization
 (PMCD). Jones was repeatedly told by his supervisors that he needed to
 be a "team player" and that his mission was "keeping th customer (i.e.
 PMCD) happy."

 - On September 13, Jones was asked to certify that 3,016 identified
 hazards, including over 1,000 deficiencies presenting an "imminent,
 catastrophic risk of explosion or agent release," constituted an "ac-
 ceptable" operational risk. Jones refused to sign the certification,
 telling his supervisors to do so would be illegal. Jones was fired the
 next morning via a terse letter explaining that his removal was "for
 the convenience of the company."

 Joanne Royce, the G.A.P. attorney handling Jones' case, commented, "Safety
concerns at the Tooele nerve gas incinerator are undoubtedly inconvenient
for EG&G, but raising these concerns is a privileged activity considered
necessary for the protection of public health and safety." G.A.P. has suc-

cessfully represented scores of employees under federal whistleblower pro-
tection statutes.

 The Tooele incinerator, where Jones, worked, is the first of eight incin-
erators the Army intends to build to dispose of the U.S. chemical weapons
stockpile by the year 2004. The Tooele Army Depot, 30 miles southwest of
Salt Lake City, is the single largest storage site, with 42 percent of the
estimated 70 million pound U.S. chemical weapon stockpile. According to
Congressional and Pentagon studies, the chemical demilitarization program
has suffered huge cost overruns and technical shortcomings. The Army ini-
tially estimated that the program would cost $1.2 billion; it is currently
estimated that completion will cost $10 billion.

 - - 3 0 - -

A copy of Steven Jones' eight-page whistleblower complaint is available on
request from Joanne Royce or Jeff Ruch at (202) 408-0034For a briefing kit
about the U.S. chemical weapons incineration program and community opposi-
tion to the plans, please contact Craig Williams of the ChemicalWeapons
Working Group at (606) 986-7565 or Bob Schaeffer at (617) 489-0461