Tooele Transcript Bulletin
August 1, 2003

Burner worker convicted of falsifying data

by Mary Ruth Hammond
Staff Writer

A federal jury has found David James Yarbrough guilty of seven counts of falsifying air monitoring tests at Deseret Chemical Depot (DCD) during June and July of 2002.

DCD is a facility located in Tooele County where, under terms of an international treaty, the nation's stockpile of chemical weapons is destroyed. Yarbrough is a worker at the Oquirrh Mountain Facility Plant at the depot (formerly CAMDS), a unit responsible for devising technology to safely destroy those weapons.

Yarbrough, 52, is a Stockton resident and former supervisor at DCD who has logged 20 years employment with the government. The man could face up to 35 years in a federal prison when sentenced by Federal Court Judge Tena Campbell on Oct. 10.

Following three days of court testimony, it took jurors four hours of deliberation Wednesday evening to reach their verdict. At about 9:30 p.m. on July 30, the jury announced their finding that Yarbrough is guilty of omitting data or misreporting test numbers.

Col. Peter Charles Cooper, DCD commander, testified during court proceedings that there are about 500 civilians employees at his facility. Additionally, DCD has more than 850 contract workers.

Several DCD workers testified during Yarbrough's trial that faulty monitoring numbers could endanger the safety of employees.

"My life might be on the line," said Dallen Cox, chief of DCD's analytical division.

But throughout court proceedings, defense attorney Earl Xiaz was adamant in stating Yarbrough's records were not falsified. Xiaz said his client was guilty of nothing more than providing his own personal worksheets, which recorded a different type of baseline test.

In an interview with the Tooele Transcript-Bulletin Thursday morning, Yarbrough stated, "I am very disappointed with the jury's verdict. It was impossible (during the three-day trial) to familiarize jury members with the terminology and purposes regarding the science of chemical agent monitoring."

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Hirata insisted that Yarbrough was indeed guilty of the charges. According to the prosecutor, Yarbrough presented worksheets that seemed to show the equipment had passed when in reality it had not.

On July 6, 2002, the government suspended DCD operations at the Oquirrh Mountain Facility Plant because of inconsistencies found in results of baseline tests supervised by Yarbrough. Operations at the facility were resumed Oct. 28, 2002, after a new baseline monitoring system was completed.

Yarbrough maintains that no DCD employee was ever in danger because of his alleged inaccurate monitoring of reports.

"I followed the program manager's Quality Assurance Plan meticulously," Yarbrough stated. "The jury was led to believe this baseline affected the lives of people, but data is available that shows the monitoring system operated excellently from July 2002 until the present time. The recertification baselines I conducted in July 2002 successfully created the foundation for this continued supply of safety support."

Yarbrough added, "I am innocent. I did not use any data that I pulled out of the air."
Xiaz was unavailable Thursday morning for comment.

Melody Rydalch, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney General's office, said the jury's finding that Yarbrough is guilty of seven of the eight indictments the government filed against him "speaks for itself."