LOCAL
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Judge orders
whistleblower protections
By the East Oregonian
HERMISTON — A judge has
directed the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to modify its permit
for the incineration of weapons at the Umatilla Chemical Depot to provide
stronger whistleblower protections for workers who have safety concerns.
However, Circuit Court Judge Michael Marcus ruled against G.A.S.P.,
a Hermiston-based group representing a couple dozen people who oppose incineration,
in its effort to require the state to revoke or modify the permit for a number
of other reasons.
The ruling this week has not altered the timeline the Army and state
are following to begin incinerating weapons by mid to late August. A permit
modification to address the court’s concerns will be considered soon, according
to Shelly Ingram of the DEQ’s Hermiston office. Consequently, it’s likely
the state Environmental Quality Commission will proceed with its Aug. 13
Hermiston meeting, during which it will decide whether or not to authorize
the Army to begin destruction of chemical agents.
G.A.S.P. was pleased with the judge’s ruling.
“This decision is significant nationally because it strengthens workers’
rights at chemical weapons facilities specifically and hazardous waste facilities
generally,” said attorney Mick Harrison, who represented G.A.S.P. “Workers
no longer need to fear retaliation for simply telling the truth.”
The judge required the permittees — the Umatilla Chemical Depot,
the Army’s Program Manager for Elimination of Chemical Weapons and Washington
Demilitarization Company — to put in place procedures for notifying workers
“of their obligation to report good faith concerns regarding the safety of
workers, the public, or the environment ... .” He also directed the permittees
to “assure all workers that they will not be disadvantaged in any way by
communicating such concerns in good faith.”
Without the addition of whistleblower functions, “the permitted activity
endangers human health and the environment ...” the judge concluded in his
47-page opinion.
The Washington Demilitarization Company, which will operate the incinerator
complex, already has a program in place through which workers can raise safety
concerns anonymously or otherwise, said Rick Kelley, manager of protocol
and public affairs. It works, he noted, because eight workers raised concerns
during the past year.
A permit modification spelling out that program will be submitted
next week, Kelley said.
Judge Marcus denied G.A.S.P.’s request for permit revocation or modification
on a number of other issues raised in the complaint, including risks to the
public from toxic emissions, lack of adequate consideration of alternatives
to incineration, intentional misrepresentations by the Army to DEQ and inadequate
agent monitoring capability. He ruled there was no legal basis to reverse
the commission’s permit decisions regarding those matters.
Karyn Jones of Hermiston said G.A.S.P. plans to appeal those rulings.
Two earlier G.A.S.P. lawsuits were decided in the state’s favor and are pending
in the Oregon Court of Appeals.
Jones said G.A.S.P. expects to have “complete participation in the
permit revision process” and thinks it should be considered a major or Class
III modification. A Class III modification would require more public hearings
and potentially delay incineration for months.
Kelley said the revision likely will be considered a Class I modification
that will not delay the start of incineration.