Local
Posted on Mon, Nov. 26, 2007
Depot whistle blower to have hearing
FILED COMPLAINT ON NERVE GAS MONITOR
By Ashlee Clark
ACLARK@HERALD-LEADER.COM
A whistle blower who accused Blue Grass Army Depot of improper chemical monitoring will have a hearing at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the University of Kentucky's College of Law.
Donald Van Winkle filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor in 2005. The hearing on his complaints will be held before Administrative Law Judge Thomas Phalen.
Van Winkle, a former air systems monitor for the depot, has said that he was relieved of his normal duties and denied training, hazard pay, overtime and advancement opportunities after raising concerns about chemical monitoring at the facility in 2005.
Van Winkle said he had told depot officials that a small piece of equipment that helps an air monitoring system detect VX -- the most lethal chemical stored at the depot -- was in the wrong place. That made it unlikely or impossible to detect a leak and compromised the safety of depot employees and community members, Van Winkle said.
Van Winkle was also accused of arrogant behavior toward a depot official.
Van Winkle has since filed a lawsuit to be reinstated in his former position at the depot, and that his work clearance access to the depot be restored.
The depot has also been cited recently by the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection for problems with chemical storage, monitoring and personnel training.
Reach Ashlee Clark in the Richmond bureau at (859) 626-5878.