Local
Posted on Thu, May
10, 2007
Scientist alleges wrongful firing from depot
CLAIMS HIS REPORTS OF VIOLATIONS LED TO DISMISSAL
By Cassondra Kirby
CKIRBY@HERALD-LEADER.COM
RICHMOND --A scientist who oversaw chemical weapons storage operations at Blue Grass Army Depot claims he was fired for reporting worker safety, environmental and data integrity violations, according to legal filings obtained yesterday by the Herald-Leader.
Kim Schafermeyer, an analytical chemist and industrial hygienist, worked at the depot until July, when he was abruptly dismissed shortly before his one-year probationary period ended, according to the filings.
The affidavit was released by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, a Washington-based group that helps whistle blowers whose situations involve environmental issues.
In the April 6 affidavit, Schafermeyer describes chronic safety and pollution concerns at the depot. He says chemical warfare agent expelled from testing equipment was vented directly into lab areas occupied by workers and visitors, air and waste water samples were handled improperly, and monitoring data protocols were flawed. In some cases, figures apparently were created to fill gaps in data.
Schafermeyer, of Lexington, says some supervisors and certifying officials have no identifiable qualifications. He alleges that depot officials misused congressionally appropriated funds earmarked for equipment upgrades, and base managers intimidated workers to stifle reports of problems.
Schafermeyer's complaints mark the second time a worker has made such allegations about the depot, which is already the subject of a federal grand jury investigation.
Richard Sloan, a spokesman for Blue Grass Chemical Weapons Activity, which oversees storage of the weapons, said he was not surprised that Schafermeyer had filed a legal complaint.
"We knew there would be action; we just didn't know when," Sloan said.
Sloan said he had not seen the affidavit and could not comment on Schafermeyer's allegations or job performance. Sloan did say that Blue Grass Chemical Weapons Activity is committed to safety.
"Not only for our workers but our community at large," Sloan said yesterday. "Everything we do has a lot of oversight and meets the standards of state and federal regulations. We don't do anything that isn't done safely. We've kept and stored those chemical weapons, some of them since 1944, without any accidents, without any release to the public."
Schafermeyer, who is asking for reinstatment at the depot with back pay, is awaiting a hearing before a U.S. Department of Labor administrative law judge.
Schafermeyer declined to comment for this story.
PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch said yesterday that the picture emerging from depot workers "is downright scary."
"The command at Blue Grass appears to be far more concerned with containing the truth about conditions inside the depot than with containing the lethal chemicals it is supposed to be safeguarding," he said.
Ruch said his group is taking sworn statements from current and former depot managers.
This is the second time in two years that a worker has come forward claiming he was fired after reporting problems at the depot, which safeguards more than 500 tons of some of the world's most lethal chemicals: the nerve agents VX and GB and mustard, a blister agent.
In 2005, Donald Van Winkle, an air systems monitor at the Richmond facility, said that monitoring equipment used to detect VX, the most lethal chemical stored there, was being used incorrectly, making it unlikely or impossible to detect a leak.
After making his complaint, Van Winkle alleges he was relieved of his normal duties and denied training, hazard pay, overtime and advancement opportunities.
Van Winkle, of Berea, no longer works at the depot. He has filed suit seeking reinstatement as an air systems monitor, said Ruch, whose group is representing him.
When they learned of Van Winkle's predicament, Ruch said, PEER asked the Pentagon to investigate whether the depot has properly monitored the depot's storage igloos and accurately reported the results. The Pentagon agreed to the inquiry.
But Pentagon officials, who did not return phone calls or e-mails yesterday, turned their investigation over to the criminal investigation division of the Environmental Protection Agency, Ruch said. He did not know why the Pentagon did that, or what the it found.
EPA investigators interviewed Van Winkle and other depot employees and began compiling a criminal case. They took the case to the U.S. attorney's office, which called in the Justice Department. A grand jury was convened earlier this year to look into reports of possible criminal wrongdoing. No details have been released about its findings.
Depot and Army officials declined yesterday to discuss the grand jury's investigation.
In the meantime, Ruch said, four other employees have come to PEER with similar complaints of misconduct from managers.
"This criminal investigation into problems at Blue Grass is long overdue," Ruch said. "Even if the misconduct at Blue Grass does not rise to the level of a crime, there has unquestionably been a complete breakdown of management competence and integrity at this sensitive facility, as well as severe lapses in oversight by the depot's parent agency, the Army Materiel Command."