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Ex-Tooele Permit Head Says Army Engaged in Fraud and Hid Environmental Violations to Gain Utah Incinerator Permit

pr_01.11.00harris.html

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CHEMICAL WEAPONS WORKING GROUP
P.O. Box 467 Berea, Kentucky 40403
(606) 986-7565 (606) 986-2695 (f)
www.cwwg.org

for more information contact:
Craig Williams: 606-986-7565
Bob Schaeffer: 941-395-6773
Mick Harrison: 606-321-1586

for use after 1pm EST, Tues. Jan. 11, 2000 news conference

NEW WHISTLEBLOWER SAYS U.S. ARMY ENGAGED IN FRAUD,
CORRUPTION; HID ENVIRONMENTAL VIOLATIONS
TO WIN UTAH CHEM. WEAPONS INCINERATOR PERMIT;
EX-TOOELE PERMIT HEAD SAYS JOB THREATENED TO GET COOPERATION

The former Permit Coordinator at the U.S. Army's Tooele, Utah, chemical weapons
incinerator today revealed his job was threatened unless he agreed to submit false data and
withhold vital environmental information to get that controversial facility licensed.

Speaking at a National Press Club news conference, Gary E. Harris, said, "Many
questionable practices that were not environmentally protective, safe or legal occurred at
Tooele during my five years of employment there, and many documents were submitted to
Utah regulators by the Army and its contractors that were dishonest or misleading. As
Permit Coordinator I was directed to submit modifications to the plant that did not comply
with Federal Law. I reported health, safety and environmental issues to the contractor and
the Army which I was directed not to bring to the attention of the State under the threat of
losing my job."

Mr. Harris provided a list of more than 100 improper activities at Tooele, allegations he has
sworn to under oath in a deposition for a Utah legal proceeding challenging the plant's
hazardous waste operating permit. Among his specific charges:

  • Political influence was applied by the Army to "fix" Utah process to cover-up
    dangerous practices and avoid public review and comment. Utah permit did not reflect
    facility actually built;
  • The plant's Health Risk Assessment was politically adjusted to obtain desired results
    by removal of data about people living and farming close to the incineration facilities;
  • Incinerator trial burns were falsified to avoid revealing that Metal Parts Furnace
    incinerator cannot safely burn the jelled agent found in many munitions and containers;
  • Data was manipulated to conceal fact that agent was not staying in Deactivation
    Furnace long enough to be destroyed;
  • Information was purposefully withheld from the regulators that a key component of
    planned agent destruction process, the dunnage incinerator designed to handle agent
    contaminated material like protective suits, could not work;
  • Staff were directed not to incorporate "lessons learned" from other facilities, such as
    the fact that the incinerators could not completely incinerate mustard agent, into the Tooele
    design and not to contact any sites under construction to share information on problems;
  • Agent residues were improperly disposed of off-site; and
  • Nearby communities never agreed to provide emergency response for accidents as
    required by permit was ignored;

    The Tooele chemical weapons incinerator, the only such facility on the U.S. mainland and
    the model for similar plants slated for construction in Arkansas, Oregon, Alabama,
    Colorado, and Kentucky has been severely criticized by former plant officials and citizen
    groups. Tooele's former Safety Manager, Steve Jones, was terminated for refusing to
    certify that the facility was safe but returned to his job after the U.S. Department of Labor
    found that he had been illegally fired for having raised safety and environmental concerns.
    Subsequently, the plant's General Manager, Gary Millar, resigned charging that the Tooele
    incinerator remained unsafe. Then the plant's hazardous waste manager Trina Allen was
    forced to resign after raising concerns about environmental violations at the facility. A
    Department of Labor judge ruled in favor of Ms. Allen on her whistleblower retaliation
    complaint.

    Mick Harrison, the lawyer representing Mr. Harris added, "Gary Harris' revelations
    demonstrate that the U.S. Army has knowingly violated the law, covered up known
    dangers, and corruptly influenced state agencies to proceed recklessly with a technology
    they know does not work. This is unacceptable behavior in any circumstances, but
    particularly risky in the area of chemical weapons destruction."

    Craig Williams, national spokesman for the Chemical Weapons Working Group, a
    coalition supporting non-incineration technologies, concluded, "The Army's incineration
    program is another 'Paducah' in the making. Workers are being exposed, dangerous agents
    are being emitted, and government agencies are conspiring to cover up the mess. The
    Toelle plant should be shut down immediately and construction of similar facilities halted."

    - - 3 0 - -

    A background kit including a chronology of problems in the Army's incineration program,
    Mr. Harris' list of significant safety, health and environmental problems at the Tooele
    facility, and other information is available on request.


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