Whistleblower in jeopardy of losing position
By Ronica Brandenburg/Register News Writer

A Blue Grass Army Depot whistleblower may lose his clearance to work near chemical weapons pending a decision to be made by the Army's Chemical Materials Agency.

In a recommendation for permanent disqualification from BGCA Chemical Personnel Reliability Program from Thomas A. Bilyeu, director of chemical operations for the Army's Chemical Material Agency, sent a recommendation for permanent disqualification Jan. 30 to Donald VanWinkle, a depot employee formerly assigned to the monitoring of chemical weapons.

If the recommendation is granted, VanWinkle will lose his position in the Army's Personal Reliability Program and can only be given non-chemical weapons assignments. A final decision will be made by the end of this month, according to the letter from Bilyeu.

Any employee who works directly with the chemical stockpile is enrolled in the Army's Personal Reliability Program. If suspicious behavior begins or if an ulterior motive is displayed by an employee, he or she suspended from duty while the investigation is conducted.

Van Winkle, of Berea, formerly operated air-monitoring units designed to detect leaks of chemical warfare agents. 

He filed a federal whistleblower complaint in September, 2005, alleging improper air monitoring inside the weapons storage igloos.

He claimed that he was reassigned from his job because of asking questions about plant safety.

Van Winkle released an official affidavit on Aug. 25 summarizing his concerns.

“In February or March of this year, I, along with other BGAD employees, attended training sessions with the manufacturer of the air monitoring equipment we use,” VanWinkle wrote in his affidavit. “During our training, we learned that the (air) sampling (methods) being used at BGAD to monitor the seven igloos that store munitions containing agent VX were incorrect.”

Shortly after the affidavit was released, depot officials met with members of the media to counteract his claims.

Based on VanWinkle's affidavit, the problem was that a decision bad been made at the depot to remove the conversion pads from the inside of the igloos to the outside. Conversion pads are needed in sampling for VX because it is such a heavy molecule and it needs to be converted to another molecule in order for an air sample to travel through the Teflon sampling tube.

In Bilyeu's letter to VanWinkle, he stated “There is lack of trust between you and myself (your certifying official) and the crew (your peers). You made threats to coerce the Chemical crewmembers. You show behavioral signs of a disgruntled employee and display a lack of positive attitude; both are security concerns. Overall your attitude and observed actions displayed in the workplace toward management and peers are unacceptable and places the stockpile in jeopardy.”

VanWinkle was given five working days to respond to the letter. In his response, he wrote “Since being placed on temporary disqualification, I have been placed at Building 4 to assist in the mission outside of the PRP (Personal Reliability Program). At which time, I have been doing everything I can to help complete the task at hand, and the overall mission. I have been giving 100 percent of anything that was asked of me. Within the past 18 months, I have received three Commanders Coins and a $250 cash award for a “Job Well Done.” I did what I did because I truly felt that the continued degradation of policies and procedures, not to mention the incompetent decisions, would and will result in handicapping the overall operations and the most important mission, which is to support and defend the chemical stockpile.”

VanWinkle is being represented by PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility), a Washington D.C. -based organization that helps protect the rights of employees who work in areas that are related to the environment.

“Donald Van Winkle is a patriot, not a security risk,” stated PEER General Counsel Richard Condit, who is representing Van Winkle, noting that recently issued Army Ethical Standards define ethical behavior as “the will to do what is right and proper regardless of personal cost.” 

“Our security is compromised, not by people like Donald Van Winkle, but by Army officials who cover up vulnerabilities in the chemical weapons stockpile,” Condit said.

Ronica Brandenburg can be reached at rbrandenburg@ richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 234.