Wednesday, December 29, 1999
Feds plan to sample Paducah soil
Uranium plant drainage key
The Associated Press
PADUCAH, Ky. — The Justice Department intends to dig two large trenches and sample the soil from a drainage ditch where the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant once leaked radioactive and other hazardous wastes.
The excavation is part of the agency's investigation of whistle-blowers' allegations against private contractors that previously operated the uranium-enrichment plant for the federal government.
In the past, the ditch drained surface runoff from the plant's grounds. Quantities of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, a group of toxic chemical compounds linked to cancer in humans, have been found in the ditch.
Mark York, a spokesman for the Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet, said the Justice Department wants a state permit to excavate two areas near the perimeter of a landfill outside the plant's northern security fence.
State officials were expected to issue the permit this week, and work could begin immediately after that, Mr. York said.
The Department of Energy, which owns the 47-year-old plant, declined Tuesday to dis cuss the Justice Department's investigation and referred queries to the law-enforcement agency. A telephone message seeking comment was left at the Louisville office of Justice Department spokesman William Campbell.
Mr. York said Justice Department officials discussed the excavation this month with the cabinet's lawyers and the Division of Waste Management. Federal officials did not specify what led to the request, but “they were interested in finding materials in those specific sites,” he said.
The U.S. attorney's office in Louisville and FBI agents are investigating allegations made in a whistle-blower lawsuit that three plant employees filed over the summer. The suit contends that former plant operators falsified records about the extent of radiation and pollution at the plant to collect millions of dollars in annual performance incentives in their contracts.
The attorney's office was granted more time to complete its investigation into whether the government should join the lawsuit to recover any money that it may be owed.
Kent Wicker, an assistant U.S. attorney in Louisville, said it was too early to comment on details about the excavation, but he said his office cited the need for the excavation in asking for the extension.
Dennis Hill, a spokesman for Bechtel Jacobs Co. LLC, the government's environmental-
cleanup contractor for the site, said at least six subcontractors will be involved in the dig, which will involve sampling and analysis.
Mr. Hill said the Justice Department's involvement has to do with its investigation into the allegations.
Mr. York said each of the trenches will be 25 feet long, 15 feet wide and 15 to 20 feet deep. Federal and state agencies will perform independent tests of the materials taken from the dig, he said.
The area generally encompasses an old north-south diversion ditch north of the plant. The ditch is no longer used for drainage and is not near any homes.
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