The Seattle Times: Hanford Official Had Sought Halt to Waste-Treatment Project
An internal December memo from a high-level official at the Hanford nuclear site in Washington state has been made public. The paper recommends that the plant halt all activities related to its nuclear safety, design, construction and installation plans.
The memo was publicly released by GAP spin-off Hanford Challenge, which works to watchdog and protect whistleblowers at the troubled site. The Hanford site has been the subject of much criticism and oversight for several years. Two months ago, GAP's American Whistleblower Tour made a stop at Whitman College (located near Hanford), where another Hanford whistleblower made a riveting presentation.
Key Quote: Tom Carpenter, executive director of the Hanford Challenge, referred to [the whistleblower's] recommendation by saying, “We think the memo is pretty clear … that work should stop on the whole waste-treatment plant.”
Related Articles: Tri City Herald, Northwest News Network, Oregonian
Transparency International: Year of the Whistleblower?
With notable whistleblower milestones such as an all-time record of $4.9 billion in settlements through the US False Claims Act, Congress' passing of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA), and the spread of whistleblowing worldwide, 2012 is being declared a monumental year in whistleblower history by Transparency International in this blog piece.
Key Quote: The latest major breakthrough came in November, when US President Barack Obama signed into law the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, which will provide new legal shields for federal employees -- including protection for government scientists who challenge censorship, and for employees who challenge the consequences of the government's policy decisions.
Thirteen years in the making, this victory was pushed over the top thanks to an extraordinary grassroots campaign by the Government Accountability Project, the Project on Government Oversight and the public radio program, "On the Media."
Norwalk Reflector: Government Going to Bat for Whistleblower Who Reported Bedbugs at Retirement Home
The Department of Labor has filed a federal lawsuit against the nonprofit corporation operating S.E.M. Terrace, an Ohio retirement home that allegedly fired the resident manager in late 2011 for filing a complaint stating the home had not properly dealt with a bedbug infestation.
Related Articles: OSHA News Release
Santa Fe New Mexican: PRC Civil Trial is First Test of State’s Whistleblower Law
In what is being regarded as the first case to go to trial under New Mexico’s 2010 Whistleblower Protection Act, a former chief examiner for Santa Fe County’s Insurance Division is suing the county Public Regulation Commission, claiming he was fired for pointing out faults within the state agency.
Jack Davis is Communications Associate for the Government Accountability Project, the nation's leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization.
