All the brave people participating in OWS and taking the protests to the homes of CEOs have inspired me to come forward and publish my first diary about my personal knowledge of corruption in Corporate America. The following story illustrates that including any CEO in a job-creation panel is bad for the economy and the environment.
I begin at the end, a little reported settlement between Honeywell and EPA/DOJ. Conveniently for Honeywell, it hit the news on the same day that the earthquake and tsunami struck Japan. This settlement resulted in Honeywell pleading guilty to a felony in federal district court and paying an $11.8 million fine.
The unreported part of this settlement is that it was the result of a whistleblower contacting EPA Region V four and a half years ago. How do I know that? Because I am that whistleblower. It has changed my life for the better, but it was not always that way.
Some Background
The plant located in Metropolis, Illinois is the first stop on the nuclear fuel cycle, converting uranium ore (or yellowcake) into uranium hexafluoride (UF6). The focus of the investigation was a material that the plant calls ‘KOH mud’ which is a mixed waste, meaning it is both hazardous and radioactive. There is some good background on KOH mud in the EPA article above and here. Following is some additional information not covered in those articles.
This material is being stored illegally because Honeywell was required to recycle it back through the process or dispose of it. A minimum of 75% of the total inventory on January 1st is supposed to be recycled by December 31st of that same year. This is called speculative accumulation under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). If 75% is not recycled, under RCRA everything that is left becomes hazardous waste and is required to be disposed of in landfills that are authorized to accept it.
Generally, reactive hazardous waste costs about $800-$1,000 per 55 gallon drum for disposal (bottom of this link), but this is mixed waste. There are only one or two companies (that I know of) in the country that can accept this material. It costs about $200 per gallon or $11,000 per 55 gallon drum to dispose of mixed waste. Given the number of drums EPA counted (7,500); disposal costs are in the neighborhood of $82.5 million.
It is my understanding that any uranium ore that does not become UF6 through the process becomes the property of Honeywell. Uranium is valuable, so KOH mud was historically recycled at the plant to recover the uranium and comply with RCRA. However, around the turn of the millennium Russia was flooding the uranium market with disarmament uranium received through the Megatons to MegawattsTM Program, uranium spot conversion prices tanked (select Spot Conversion on the drop down menu at this link and look at the ‘North America (NA) Conversion Price’ trend). Suddenly conversion was not so profitable and what ‘business decision’ did Honeywell make about that recycle stream and the workers that operated that process? You can read about that here (half way down the page under the headline: Honeywell pleads guilty to felony, fined $11.8 Million!), along with Dave Cote’s contempt for anyone questioning the veracity of his felonious company. (Note to the White House, this is why you don't include CEOs on a job-creation panel as they always want to gut regulations, yet regulations created these private sector jobs in the first place!)
What Happened
Now that you have some background, in order to understand the predicament that any law abiding citizen faces, please put yourself in my situation starting in the summer of 2006 (I challenge any elected official to do the same). I was working at this plant that was illegally storing thousands of drums full of caustic radioactive waste. At first glance, the bright orange labels on these stacked metal drums immediately raises concerns, ‘KOH Muds (potassium hydroxide) Caution Corrosive Burns Body Tissue’ if the labels are still affixed after years of direct exposure to the elements.
Those metal drums are no match for the corrosive contents. Drums were failing on the storage pad, directly exposing workers and the environment to this caustic/radioactive material. Beyond that, if a lower stacked drum fails then the 1,000 pound drum on top of it is falling. After a drum has failed the rusted metal that is left looks like swiss cheese. Every time it rains KOH mud laden storm water drains to sumps on the pad or if it rains hard enough it spills over the containment wall to the ground (I saw that happen). Everything that goes to the sumps is pumped to a settling pond; from there it goes untreated to the Ohio River.
Concerns about this material were reported along with other environmental concerns through the chain of command within the plant. We were told the material is dry (when we knew it was wet), we were told that the EPA does not regulate radioactive waste (not true if it is also hazardous), etc. Nothing happened, except of course my employment was threatened for causing a ‘disruption’ within the workgroup (hence my username). There was more retaliation. I knew I had to do more or I could become criminally liable.
Then on the personal side, the wife was at the beginning of a high risk pregnancy with our second child. She was on bed rest and had to go to the doctor every week or two for exams to see how things were progressing. Our oldest child was born with a birth defect that was fixed with major surgery, but still required periodic follow-ups with a Pediatric Neurosurgeon just in case another surgery was needed. I needed to maintain health insurance for our family. So I needed my job. I also could not move the wife until she was full-term (>36 weeks into her pregnancy).
I knew if I called the EPA or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the company found out I would be fired, left without health insurance or an income. This was a real possibility as the company always found out when someone called the NRC. Plant management would even search plant phone records to try and find the troublemaker. Considering what I had to report, it would have been obvious who made the call even if I made that call from home. Discretion is not part of the NRC’s vocabulary. Beyond that the company fired people left and right at this plant, so it was a very real possibility. I could not take that risk.
So I looked for another job and I found a good job with a good company far away in late 2006. We put our house on the market and I quit my job in early 2007. I mean quit, no two-week notice, I did not tell plant management or Human Resources until I was far away from the plant. Those assholes were not going to have the satisfaction of escorting me out of the plant with armed guards. I took the ridiculously desperate action of moving an eight-month pregnant wife and young child to a new city. I made those notifications, first the NRC to report the radiological safety concern and retaliation, then the EPA to report the environmental violation and retaliation. We had our second child (healthy!) and then we waited.
It took a year to sell the house, we had to pay mortgage and rent for that year. We took a loss on the house over and above Realtor fees, our finances were decimated. Adding insult to injury the wife is living with two little kids in a small apartment during the day while I am at work, having given up the house for my moral conviction. We finally bought a house after spending 16 agonizing months in that small apartment. Then we waited some more.
Finally in 2009 things really heated up. After a few discussions with EPA Special Agents, the plant was raided by armed federal agents (I heard it was about 40 of them) in April 2009 and the investigation became public. I use the term ‘raid’ because that is what the attorneys representing Honeywell called it when they interviewed me. When I told an EPA Special Agent that they said that, his response was, "yeah, we’re bad boys." Agents made everyone leave their workstation immediately and funneled them to a single large conference room pulling out one at a time to interview. All the while other agents searched the site, counting drums, copying paper files and electronic files off the server. They got everything they were looking for and probably more. I heard that the corporate headquarters in Morristown, New Jersey was also raided at the same time.
Then about a year later a grand jury was convened in St. Louis (the July 8, 2010 entry at this website discusses the grand jury and gives some insight into why Honeywell would settle). I could only imagine the fear that grand jury put in the minds of all those involved. Knowing the lies they had told, knowing that they were complicit, and fearing the possibility of a trial followed by a lengthy federal prison sentence. Finally, a year after that everything culminates in that $11.8 million settlement and guilty plea to a felony charge in federal district court.
My life is better now. I work for a much better company that is committed to environmental compliance and I am thankful that my decision has been vindicated by the investigation. I have left many gaping holes in this story for the sake of brevity, yet it is still probably too long.
Honeywell’s Spin
Honeywell previously issued a press release that has since been removed from their website. Reading between the lines, it indicated that this was not even an issue since no one was injured or killed (did Honeywell need a repeat of what happened to Delvin Henry before they started following the law?) They also claim to have self reported this issue in 2006. So then why did they plead guilty to a felony in federal district court?
5:45 PM PT: Rec list and community spotlight? I'm honored and humbled. Thank you for the great responses. I will try to post comments but with little ones it's tough in the evening. If you have any questions you may have to wait until tomorrow for a response, but I will respond. Thanks again.