Seattle Times: Sole N-plant in State Has More Backup
Officials from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington State have stated that although the site’s nuclear power plant is similar in design to those stricken in Japan, it is better equipped to deal with natural disasters. The plant is a decade newer than the Japanese reactors and prepared with backup emergency-cooling systems.
Yet, the plant was singled out last year by the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations as “one of two in the country most in need of improvements in operations and ‘human performance.’”
In the past, GAP has worked with Hanford whistleblowers who faced retaliation for raising concerns about unsafe practices at the plant. Hanford Challenge, a spin-off organization of GAP, continues to address these Hanford-specific issues today.
Washington Post: State Department Spokesman Quits after Criticizing WikiLeaks Suspect's Treatment
P.J. Crowley, the U.S. State Department spokesman, has stepped down over controversial remarks he made about accused WikiLeaks leaker Bradley Manning. Crowley’s “off the cuff” statement that the Army’s treatment of Manning is “counterproductive and stupid” was made at a small presentation last week at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
After his comment quickly went viral, Crowley took responsibility for his remarks and resigned from the White House on Sunday. President Obama rejected the criticism and voiced confidence in the Pentagon’s handling of Manning’s case.
Related Article: The New York Times
Associated Press: Erin Brockovich Back In Hinkley Testing Water
The small California community whose battles with Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) over contaminated groundwater inspired the movie Erin Brockovich is again struggling with unsafe water. Residents learned earlier this year that the plume of chromium from PG&E has again seeped into the water supply, and that pollution may be greater than the company claims.
Brockovich, along with one of the residents involved in the original case filed in 1993, has responded by again rallying community residents in order to bring these concerns to light.
USA Today: 'Anonymous' Hackers Release Bank of America E-mails
The Internet activist group Anonymous has released a trove of internal emails from Bank of America (BofA), leaked by a former BofA employee. The whistleblower has alleged that the emails reveal BofA employees engaged in foreclosure fraud; however, there is not enough context to affirm that this is the case.
While BofA claims that the emails do not relate to foreclosures, an Anonymous member has stated that the documents are just the first of a series of leaks that will prove BofA engaged in “improper mortgage foreclosure practices.”
ProPublica: FOIA Eyes Only - How Buried Statutes Are Keeping Information Secret
This piece investigates the broad range of statutes (known as b(3)s) that are being invoked in order to deny Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. New data compiled by a coalition called the Sunshine in Government Initiative has revealed that more than 240 other laws, in addition to the nine standard FOIA exemptions, have been applied by government agencies to deny FOIA requests.
Key Quote: “FOIA is supposed to be a disclosure act, and these b(3)s make it more of a withholding act,” said Patrice McDermott, director of another transparency group, openthegovernment.org [15]. “They can have a detrimental effect to know what government’s doing and hold it accountable.”
Los Angeles Times: Organic Fertilizer Maker Accused of Using Synthetic Chemicals
The largest seller of "organic" fertilizer in the West has been indicted by a federal grand jury in California for selling fertilizers labeled as organic that were made with synthetic chemicals such as ammonium sulfate and other nonorganic substances. The indictment is part of a growing effort by the USDA's Office of the Inspector General to "crack down on fraud and corruption in the organic industry."
Lindsay Bigda is Communications Fellow for the Government Accountability Project, the nation's leading whistleblower advocacy organization.
