CW SAFETY MGR @ TOOELE TESTIFIES

[Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@igc.org>]

From: Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@igc.org>

CHEMICAL WEAPONS WORKING GROUP 
P.O. Box 467, Berea, Kentucky 40403
Phone: (606) 986-7565 Fax: (606) 986-2695
e-mail: kefwilli@acs.eku.edu

 
for immediate release: Tuesday, March 26, 1996

FIRED CHEMICAL WEAPONS CHIEF SAFETY MANAGER
 TESTIFIES TOOELE CONTRACTOR ORDERED, 
"DON'T PUT ANYTHING NEGATIVE ABOUT THIS PLANT IN WRITING." 

 DEMANDED HE BAR TOOELE ARMY STAFF FROM INCINERATOR
FACILITY; 
PLANT HAD NO EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN OR MAJOR ACCIDENT
ANALYSIS.

SALT LAKE CITY: MARCH 26, 1995--The former Chief Safety
Officer at the U.S. Army's
Tooele, Utah, chemical weapons incinerator, Steve Jones,
testified today that the Army's contractor, EG&G Defense
Materials, Inc. repeatedly tried to block his efforts to
report and address environmental, health and safety hazards
at that facility.
 
 In sworn testimony in a whistleblower protection hearing
Jones said;
 * On his first day on the job at Tooele, Henry Silvestri,
EG&G's General Manager, told Jones to never contact
government personnel from any other agency about conditions
at the plant. Silvestri also demanded that Jones bar Tooele
Army Depot staff from entering the incinerator area.
 * Responding to a comprehensive "internal audit" compiled
by Jones documenting thousands of problems at Tooele
Silvestri became extremely angry and ordered, "don't put
anything negative about this plant in writing." EG&G now
claims it can not find a copy of Jones' audit report, but a
summary listing 15 program areas which Jones said failed
safety inspections was entered into evidence.
 * EG&G supervisors repeatedly criticized Jones for not
being a "team player" and told him his mission was "keeping
the customer-the Army's Program Manager for Chemical
Demilitarization-happy."
 * Within his first two weeks at Tooele, Jones found the
plant had no emergency response plan for its current
operations and lacked the required analysis for a maximum
credible event, the most plausible catastrophic accident.

Documents entered into evidence over the objections of EG&G
lawyers show that government inspections at Tooele, months
after Jones was fired, found that many of the problems still
existed. Jones claims he was fired for pursuing these
problems, an activity that is protected under several
federal environmental laws including the Toxics Substance
Control Act. His termination came the day after he refused
to certify that the plant was safe, despite a
sub-contractor's report that found 3016 hazards at the plant
including more than 150 that could cause "imminent and
catastrophic" risks of explosion or agent release. 
Also on Tuesday, two expert witnesses testified regarding
Jones' record as a Safety Manager in positions before taking
the job with EG&G. Captain John Pickering, who currently
commands the Long Beach Naval Shipyard in California, said
that Jones was the best Safety Officer he had supervised
during 29 years of service, praising him for "a
professional, focused, 'no nonsense,' managerial style." 
Jones won unprecedented back-to-back Safety Achievement
Awards for his work under Captain Pickering at a U.S. Navy
repair facility in Japan.
George Cook, a career military safety inspector, who had
previously worked for Jones, praised him as an "outstanding
Safety Manager." Cook indicated that he was eager to work
under Jones again, even visiting Tooele while Jones was
employed there to assess employment opportunities.
In Wednesday's session, which begins at 9:00 A.M. (MST),
Jones is expected to finish his direct testimony and then
face cross-examination from the lawyers for EG&G. When
Jones leaves the witness stand, his lawyers will question
representatives from EG&G, including Henry Silvestri, the
former General Manager who fired him.
Jones is represented by Richard Condit and Joanne Royce of
the Government Accountability Project (GAP), a non-profit
whistleblower defense organization, and by John Preston
Creer, a prominent Utah attorney. 

Copies of Jones' whistleblower protection complaint and
documents about the case available on request.