Deseret News
August 2, 2003

Official says he’s innocent; Air-monitoring chief guilty of faking numbers

By Joe Bauman
Deseret Morning News

The air-monitoring chief convicted of filing false information at the Chemical Agent Munitions Disposal System near Stockton, Tooele County, says he is not guilty — and that the plant has not complied with quality-assurance rules.
      
However, the commander of the Army base where the Chemical Agent Munitions Disposal System is located responded that the installation's detection of David James Yarbrough's irregular action — and his subsequent conviction — underscores its commitment to safety.
      
Yarbrough, a resident of Stockton who had been supervisor of air monitoring at the plant, was found guilty of seven counts and cleared on one other count Wednesday. He was accused of manipulating data to make it seem as if air monitors to detect potentially lethal vapors were passing tests when they were not.
      
The Chemical Agent Munitions Disposal System is a separate facility from the field of bunkers that are storing tons of toxic chemical weapons, and also separate from the Army's $1 billion incinerator that is destroying the weapons. The installation is a research and development operation that is looking for better ways to destroy the munitions. Chemical Agent Munitions Disposal System, the incinerator and the storage area all are part of Deseret Chemical Depot.
      
The incidents happened in June and July 2002. When figures from operator logs were run in a computer, some of the monitors failed a particular test, but when figures maintained by Yarbrough in his own worksheets were used, they passed.
      
The defense contended that this was proper for one kind of test, which would be followed by a second test that did not use Yarbrough's worksheets. The government asserted the same type of reporting was needed for both types of tests.
      
When Yarbrough is sentenced in October, he faces a possible five years in prison for each of the charges on which he was convicted.
      
Thursday afternoon, Yarbrough faxed a statement to the Deseret Morning News that stated, "I am still innocent; safety was paramount in every decision that I made."
      
He said that during the past four years he has pushed safety issues "up the chain of command to state and federal levels" regarding what he believes are serious safety problems at the Tooele County facilities and elsewhere.
      
"I am guilty for continuing to expect responses and actions for each one of these safety concerns that the government wrongfully believes will go away if they can destroy my credibility," Yarbrough wrote.
      
Col. Peter C. Cooper, commander of Deseret Chemical Depot, said, told the Deseret Morning News that the Army did not convict Yarbrough.
      
"He was convicted by a jury of his peers on seven felony counts of making false statements," Cooper said. "He reported false data in the program that measures our safety before a project starts. "This whole episode has been unfortunate, but it demonstrates the Army's commitment to safety."