LANL waste records demanded by state
Wonder how many more surprises are lurking in the drums?
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/special_reports/from_lanl_to_leak/state-wants-decades-of-records-on-lanl-s-handling-of/article_e13b277a-a910-5587-b103-72a3bda9b7c8.html
33 comments:
This is going to get mighty ugly.
OMG, don't they trust LANS? I'm shocked. Well, not really.
I find it interesting that the New Mexico Environmental Department (NMED) is doing a better job of assessing and providing oversight of Los Alamos National Security (LANS) than the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) or the Defense Nuclear Facility Safety Board (DNFSB). Maybe we out to get rid of NNSA, DNFSB, and the DoD (i.e. the Feds) and let the State (Governor Martinez) run LANS. I haven't heard any better ideas. At least she is holding them them accountable.
McMillan's only solution is to offer NM Environment Department Secretary Ryan Flynn a very handsome salary with tax-free bonuses, L.A. Laker bench side seats next to Beyonce, use of a yacht, flight benefits back home and a leased Audi. Don't laugh, mark my words, LANS (Pattiz) has the "coin".
Pattiz tools around town in his Aston Martin, weekends on his 60-foot Tempest, "a big go-fast boat" that can take him and his wife, Mary, to Catalina in an hour, and goes to every Lakers game he can. Pattiz and his wife spent more than $100,000 last month in the Jackie Onassis auction, purchasing a 19th-century desk and a publisher's manuscript of "Profiles in Courage."
For the sake of the workers that must go through this hunt, they better make certain that there aren't any 'lost' records. In the aftermath of the Enron scandal one of the largest fallouts was the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was directed at the records destruction of Arthur Anderson. Significant criminal penalties can result from cases where records searches are deemed to be incomplete. What makes it even more interesting is that it is both the parent organizations and the individual employees that are held liable, and the penalties are both fines and jail time for those found guilty of violations.
You can bet your bottom dollar that LANL will fight this to the end. An investigation of the magnitude, could reveal the inside of the "body" of LANS, and would not be too pretty. Any one involved with the WIPP project better run and hide, upper management will throw you under the Bus! Watch this space.....
What makes it even more interesting is that it is both the parent organizations and the individual employees that are held liable...
February 26, 2015 at 7:43 AM
Not in this case. LANS can be held liable, but not the parent companies. That is the whole point of the LLC.
"...Not in this case. LANS can be held liable, but not the parent companies. That is the whole point of the LLC. .."
And LANS can elect to go "POOF" at any time.
Win-Win!!
For the sake of the workers that must go through this hunt, they better make certain that there aren't any 'lost' records. In the aftermath of the Enron scandal one of the largest fallouts was the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was directed at the records destruction of Arthur Anderson. Significant criminal penalties can result from cases where records searches are deemed to be incomplete. What makes it even more interesting is that it is both the parent organizations and the individual employees that are held liable, and the penalties are both fines and jail time for those found guilty of violations.
February 26, 2015 at 7:43 AM
I worked in the LANL Transuranic Program. During this time I would find documents I generated on drums going to WIPP that were tossed in the re-cycle bin. NMED is too late, they will never get these documents.
NMED is too late, they will never get these documents.
February 27, 2015 at 4:33 AM
The documents were generated on a computer, right? They were electronically communicated to other people, right? Think IRS scandal and "lost" emails now being found.
The labels on the drums are not in question, it is the eternal communication regarding the processing and the protocol. And yes it's on computer it;s on the record....
The labels on the drums are not in question, it is the eternal communication regarding the processing and the protocol. And yes it's on computer it;s on the record....
February 27, 2015 at 1:41 PM
Nope. Most of my information was handwritten forms that were trashed. I also noticed that many of the documents that were sent to NMED were "incomplete".
Nope. Most of my information was handwritten forms that were trashed. I also noticed that many of the documents that were sent to NMED were "incomplete".
February 27, 2015 at 3:13 PM
Cometh yet another whistletblower.
Most of you guys and gals are only concentrating on civil penalties, there are also possible criminal liability to the upper management if they can prove that there were willful and intentional. This was the case in Rock Flats several decades ago so there is precedence already. Both NMED and EPA can go hard on LANL. I do not think LANL and DOE can negotiate and it is NMED that have the upper hand backed by EPA.
LANL will definantly lose the PR battle in the press. Come on who could possibly side with folks who produce Exploding barrels of Nuclear waste in a depository then try to lie there way out of it? gotta hand it to LANS you really screwed up this time!
I gotta hand to the NMED a very small 5 man office , is now kicking the the crap out of both DOE / LANL, for decades of mismanagement, not even th IG of DOE have put the LAB through so much hell. I say go get um !
I gotta hand to the NMED a very small 5 man office , is now kicking the the crap out of both DOE / LANL, for decades of mismanagement, not even th IG of DOE have put the LAB through so much hell. I say go get um !
February 28, 2015 at 8:31 AM
Considering how badly that Wallace lost it for LANL, there wasn't much effort needed for NMED to win. The wonder of all this is just how many of the upper management will face criminal prosecution either for the accident or the subsequent coverup.
February 28, 2015 at 9:53 AM
You are delusional. Any comparison between LANL and Rocky Flats simply shows the lack of historical knowledge of the person making the comparison. The RF actions by the EPA/FBI were in response to decades of serious, covered-up violations coupled with decades of ignoring state and federal orders to cease and desist. No such record exists at LANL. At most, a few upper-management heads will roll (probably Wallace, possibly Mcmillan), as a signal of LANS' displeasure at the negative publicity and the hassle over the fines. Besides, the raid at RF would never have been allowed to happen had the cold war not already ended.
It has been true for many years that the phone number for Lab legal that employees are given to call is not the "real" number. Upper managers know the "real" number. Employees are expected to vet their legal issues through upper management. Employees are expected to understand that Legal is not there to help them unless upper management agrees the issue is bigger than simply an employee complaint. Hard to believe that there are employees who still don't understand all this.
To 9:53 am no such records exist? The TA 55 fence deal is a record of unallowable expenses, TA 55 has tons of safety violations that have not been made public, the WIPP fiasco has hundreds of ill informed and cover up documents just waiting to come out, wait for the heat and people will be singing out loud, just to save their ass.
During the NEST team missing hard disk fiasco at LANL after the 2000 Cerro Grande fire, things got so bad once the FBI started their shake-down of staff in the weapons division that some employees had to go out and hire private lawyers to protect themselves during the harsh FBI interrogations.
It might be wise for employees working in the current nuclear waste division at LANL to consider the same steps for their own legal protection. Just saying...
To 9:53 am no such records exist?
February 28, 2015 at 2:13 PM
Please take a reading comprehension course. The statement was "no such record exists" at LANL, meaning a decades long record (not "records")of environmental violations coupled with refusals to comply with state and federal orders. If you can't understand the difference between a long written log of violations and a short, alleged but not proven series of issues that no state or federal agency has seen fit to cite, you are just a rabble rouser. Go away. Or better yet, stay around for the laughs.
Maybe 9:53 was the "an-organic", "inorganic" secretary. Cut him/her some slack. Not everyone is anointed with a PhD from MIT; some of us have to work for a living.
"Not everyone is anointed with a PhD from MIT; some of us have to work for a living.
March 1, 2015 at 3:15 AM"
This is correct, one is anointed with PhD from MIT and than you never have to work a day in your life. Makes sense.
To 9:53, You mean barrels exploding at WIPP are mere allegation? Wow you must be part of the problem.
To 9:53, You mean barrels exploding at WIPP are mere allegation? Wow you must be part of the problem.
March 1, 2015 at 1:39 PM
Huh? 9:53 said nothing of the sort. Who did you really mean to rag on?
1:39 failed at reading comprehension.
This is correct, one is anointed with PhD from MIT and than you never have to work a day in your life. Makes sense.
March 1, 2015 at 6:41 AM
It's ironic that the person from LANS responsible for the WIPP debacle (McMillan) has a PhD from MIT. And he doesn't let us forget it. So much for PhDs from MIT.
So much for PhDs from MIT.
March 3, 2015 at 2:54 AM
Juvenile and stupid argument...actually, no. It's not an "argument" at all. Juvenile and stupid comment. And guess what? If you are an employee, you are "from LANS" too.
Pattiz tools around town in his Aston Martin, weekends on his 60-foot Tempest, "a big go-fast boat" that can take him and his wife, Mary, to Catalina in an hour, and goes to every Lakers game he can. Pattiz and his wife spent more than $100,000 last month in the Jackie Onassis auction, purchasing a 19th-century desk and a publisher's manuscript of "Profiles in Courage."
February 26, 2015 at 4:01 AM
How dare he enjoy the money he earned founding a successful business? How dare he? And to equate LANS money to Pattiz shows your ignorance.
Why is what Pattiz does with his money relevant in any way, other than to show your petty and infantile jealousy-- and your complete lack of hope for ever achieving at that level.
Yeah, the downfall of the US, started by this clueless President, is going to be class warfare. "I want, need, and deserve what you have, and it is the government's job to give it to me." Arm yourselves.
How dare he enjoy the money he earned founding a successful business? How dare he? And to equate LANS money to Pattiz shows your ignorance.
Why is what Pattiz does with his money relevant in any way, other than to show your petty and infantile jealousy-- and your complete lack of hope for ever achieving at that level.
March 5, 2015 at 3:23 PM
Read the whole article by Mark Saylor, LA Times, Back in Tune: Norman Pattiz and the Comeback of Westwood One, March, 7, 1996, you'll love it Charlie!
http://articles.latimes.com/1996-05-07/business/fi-1343_1_norm-pattiz
Post a Comment