This the Testimony of Jeffery Blaine Walburn to be given in front of the United States Senate Committee On Governmental Affairs at 10:00A.M. March 22,of the year 2000
Mr. Chairman, Honorable Senators , thank you for allowing me to testify today. My name is Jeffery Walburn. I live in Greenup, Kentucky. I have worked at the Portsmouth Plant for over 23 years. My job title is Security Inspector. I also served as a Councilman from 1987 to 1995 in the City of Portsmouth, Ohio and was Vice Mayor for 2 years. I was injured in an industrial accident in the X326 process building on July 26, 1994 which has left me working but restricted. I have permanent injury to my upper airways and lungs, a condition known as R.A.D.S. . I feel that I did not get proper medical treatment at that time and that there has been an effort at the Portsmouth Plant to criminally cover-up the details of this accident.
Honorable Senators , it's not my own injury that I came here to testify about today, I am here to report the details of illegal actions taken by the Subcontractor: Lockheed Martin Utility Systems, surrounding the event. There is a discovery of facts stemming from the independent and long running investigation by myself and by efforts of both U.P.G.W.A. and P.A.C.E. Unions, along with NIOSH. This investigation is supported heavily by documentation as well as the testimony of two whistle blowers which we believe reveals criminal activity. I believe it extends into the previous history of the plant under Goodyear Atomic Corporation, and I also believe that the knowledge of these actions are also known by the United States Enrichment Corporation Management as well as D.O.E.
Our investigation of my injury, has revealed the following:
- Altering of documents ( My Medical Diagnosis was altered. )
- Suppressed documentation ( a 41 page internal report POEF 150-96-0088 Dated February 17, 1996 from Don Butler Security Investigator Lockheed Martin Utility Systems to Dan Hupp Security Manager reference management of dosimetry practices.)
- Destruction of Government Documents ( The dosimetry records of Jeffery Walburn were ordered changed to zero because he was going to file a Law Suit concerning his accident in the X326 building: reference to whistleblower depositions)
- Falsifying of Government documents/ lying to Government Investigators. (Failure to divulge work being performed on 7/26/94 in X326., including AGG alarm (argon gamma graph)indicating the presence of gamma radiation )
- Illegal entry into a secure system of records for the express purpose to present a false dosimetry history at the Portsmouth Site.( A back door into the dosimetry records for the purpose of custom tailoring dose records.).
NIOSHs investigation of Dosimetry practices at Portsmouth ( Bucket Dose, Averaging, Destruction of badges and Bar codes on the wall, Failure to check for Neutron Radiation, and evidence of high doses not reported.). I dont know how many reports that I have read in the D.O.E. system of investigation which state. There is no evidence of injury because the records do not reflect. Ladies and Gentleman I am here today to report that the Dosimetry records at Portsmouth have been Altered.
Sick workers but no reason. Dead workers but no cause. How can this be? I believe there has been deliberate action on the part of the Plant Subcontractors to defraud under D.O.E. oversight. There has been an absence of checks and balances.
The D.O.E. wants to offer a settlement which makes the worker prove how they were hurt, but grants D.O.E. themselves and the Subcontractors immunity from prosecution. I ask you what did D.O.E. know and when did they know it?
Health screenings are great preventative medicine but not compensation.
I want to know if the Privatization agreement was properly struck under the Federal Certificate of Compliance? Were the workers of Portsmouth and Paducah set a drift in a leaky boat with sick and injured personnel by The D.O.E. ? Were we indentured to a private group only to be scuttled later with no survivors and no reparations coming to our widows because the records did not reflect? If the records were falsified they cannot reflect.
I am here today to call for a full and independent Third party investigation of D.O.E. and their relationship with their subcontractors. Asking D.O.E. to investigate themselves is like asking the Fox if all the Chickens are well in the henhouse.
We as a group have been fought at every turn concerning workers comp. We have been made to appear as malingerers, or as just plain whiners. We are neither. We are COLD WAR VETERANS and we suffer from NUCLEAR WORKERS SYNDROME. We deserve compensation. So, you say, what have we done to bring this to light? We have reported: timely, dutifully, and often. I myself have reported to D.O.E.s Inspector general on two separate occasions. D.O.E. turned the matter over to U.S.E.C. to investigate their own subcontractor . I have notified N.R.C. region III, Department of Labor, NIOSH, and the F.B.I. . They all point at D.O.E. . I notified Congressman Strickland from my hospital bed when I was injured. Senators Dewine and Voinovich were informed at the Piketon Hearings. I gave a hanging file box of evidence, backing the information I am providing today to Congressman Strickland. I sent a duplicate to Secretary Richardsons personal staff outlining the very wrongs I have presented and have informed the EH-10 executive staff of the details of its contents. I am told D.O.E. has lost their copy of the box. Given the gravity of the information, possibly criminal, that was in that box, I cant understand why they have not asked for a replacement of this information. There is something wrong at the Portsmouth Plant. Something which may very well point to the cause throughout the industry about why the workers are sick and dead. I hope you will find out. Honorable Senators thank you for allowing me to speak.