Associated Press: Report – Hanford Vessels Fail to Meet Requirements
In the latest alarming news from the Hanford Nuclear Site, a federal audit has found that the Department of Energy and a contractor "procured and installed tanks that did not always meet requirements of a quality assurance program or the contract." Additionally, for installing a defective tank involved in the process of containing high-level nuclear waste, the contractor was awarded $15 million. Even worse, when the government demanded that the fee be returned, the request was never followed up on "to ensure that it was."
GAP is no stranger to Hanford contractors installing defective equipment that puts the public at risk, only to be rewarded for it. On this latest news, GAP sister organization Hanford Challenge stated: "The Hanford WTP plant continues to be designed and built despite the tidal wave of allegations and findings on the lack of safety by key engineers and managers, who have sacrificed their careers to do so."http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2012/04/30/bp-suspends-executive-at-centre-graft-probe-newspaper/
GBTV: Collecting Information
In a roundtable discussion yesterday on the Glenn Beck program, NSA whistleblowers (and GAP clients) Tom Drake, Bill Binney, J. Kirk Weibe, along with former Congressional staffer Diane Roark, discussed how retaliation against them has harshly affected each of their professional lives. They also discussed the recent news made by Binney and Weibe in two explosive Wired Magazine articles about the growing domestic surveillance state in this country.
Wall Street Journal: Accusations Fly in NBA Union War
There is turmoil among prominent officers and representatives at the National Basketball Player's Association, which is leading to accusations of financial impropriety. NBA Star Derek Fisher, head of the NBA Executive Committee, requested an audit over the union's business practices and murky investment deals involving relatives of the President of the Association. The Executive Committee then unanimously voted to ask Fisher to resign, which he has refused to do.
Related Article: Yahoo
ABC News: Officials Watch for Terrorists With Body Bombs on US-Bound Planes
In preparation of tomorrow's first anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death, American authorities are shifting Federal Air Marshals overseas to focus on long, international flights, believed to be the most vulnerable to terrorist attack.
It's too bad that blowing the whistle on terrible and unsafe practices at the Federal Air Marshal service can get you fired, as the case of GAP client Robert MacLean illustrates. MacLean exposed a plan to remove marshals from vulnerable flights during a time of an increased highjacking alert, and was fired for it, even after Congressional members acted to stop the plan. Recently, three US representatives filed an amicus curiae brief with the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in support of MacLean.
Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Public Library Whistleblower Settles Suit for $343,000
A whistleblower from the Sacramento libraries system has settled her suit for nearly $350,000. The employee, a senior accounts clerk, was retaliated against for raising concerns about unusual invoices.
Dylan Blaylock is Communications Director for the Government Accountability Project, the nation's leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization.
