WASHINGTON
Managers at the nation's only operational chemical weapons incinerator encouraged workers to cut corners so a deadly nerve agent stockpile could be destroyed before the Winter Olympics in nearby Salt Lake City, a plant employee says.
Brenda Mugleston, who has worked for eight years at the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, told The Associated Press that workers were promised a $750 bonus for meeting the deadline. She said they felt pressure from managers to increase productivity and they sometimes mishandled weapons.
Mugleston said she feared workers and the public were being endangered and told managers, but nothing was done. She also reported problems to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Stuart Young, attorney for EG&G Defense Materials, which runs the incinerator for the Army, said Mugleston's allegations are being investigated and "at this point we don't have any reason to believe there are any immediate health, safety or environmental concerns."
Mugleston said she has reported the problems to OSHA and provided a letter saying the agency is investigating. Agency spokesman Bill Wright said whistleblower laws preclude him from identifying complainants.
Army spokeswoman Nancy Ray said the Pentagon is pleased with the work EG&G has done. "It's absolutely a professional operation," she said.
The Tooele plant is a forefather to Anniston's chemical weapons incinerator, which was completed last summer and is expected to begin testing nerve agent in September.
Mike Abrams, spokesman for Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, as the incinerator is officially known, declined to comment after he was informed of the allegations.
Tooele, located 40 miles west of Salt Lake City, is home to the Pentagon's incinerator, created to destroy 13,616 tons of the chemical weapons stockpile. Other incinerators are being built in Umatilla, Ore., and Pine Bluff, Ark.
The incinerator was forced to shut down for several months in the summer of 2000 after a tiny amount of GB nerve agent escaped from its emissions stack.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the amount was small enough that it did not endanger the public. Plant managers say it is the only time nerve agent was released.
Mugleston's allegations come as the plant prepares to process VX agent, which the CDC and Environmental Protection Agency say is 36 times more deadly than the sarin gas the facility has been handling and much more difficult to detect.
"Basically, we have been told that when we go into VX we're going to be living in our masks," Mugleston said.
Mugleston said she is concerned what will happen when VX incineration begins because she has witnessed problems that undermined worker safety, including:
· Backup generators routinely failed during power outages, compromising systems meant to protect workers from contamination.
· Workers were sent into contaminated areas breathing through air hoses that already had tested positive for nerve agents.
· Sarin-contaminated waste was stored for several days in an unprotected area.
· Last September, dust and ash left over from the incineration process and supposedly free of any contamination billowed out of a waste bin, triggering a chemical alarm 40 feet away.
Mugleston provided internal documents to support her claims.
Company officials declined to comment on specific allegations and said their investigation is ongoing.
Mugleston said more problems surfaced late last year as workers rushed to finish before the Olympics began in February. Tooele was shut down during the Games as part of security precautions.
Canisters with artillery shells leaking tiny amounts of sarin gas should have been placed in special airtight containers before being transferred from storage bunkers to the incinerator. Instead, to save time, managers allowed the canisters to be covered only with plastic before being moved, Mugleston said. The canisters then were unpacked by workers not wearing proper protection, she said.
Alarms indicating the presence of chemicals sounded frequently in the months leading up to the Games, Mugleston said. In late January, eight workers had to have blood tests after leaking gas from a dropped canister triggered alarms. All eight readings were within allowable levels.
Another employee, Andy Harris, complained to managers about the handling of the shells and was demoted. He later complained to OSHA and was reinstated, according to his attorney.
James Colburn, general manager at the plant, said alarms are triggered by levels of chemicals much lower than what is considered dangerous. Since Tooele opened six years ago, no worker has been exposed to harmful levels of chemicals, he said.
Mugleston told OSHA that after she told her bosses her concerns they tried to force her out of her job.
Young reiterated that Mugleston's complaint is being investigated and he could not comment on specific allegations. He said the company encourages workers to approach managers with safety concerns.
Star Staff Writer Matthew Creamer contributed to this report.
On the Net:
Utah's Department of Environmental Quality Tooele incinerator site: www.eq.state.ut.us/EQSHW/CDS/TOCDFHP1.HTM
Chemical Weapons Working Group: www.cwwg.org
