Published: April 04, 2007 11:02 am      

‘Whistle blower’

Van Winkle details how he came to distrust depot managers

After Richmond Mayor Connie Lawson visited a storage igloo at the Blue Grass Army Depot about three years ago, depot workers discovered that the gas chromatograph used to detect airborne chemical agent in the igloo was not working properly.

Donald Van Winkle, a former depot employee whose allegations have led to a criminal investigation of chemical weapons storage there, cited this incident as an example of how depot managers have misled the public about safety at the facility where 500 tons of chemical nerve agent is stored.

“I was in the igloo with them, and we all smiled for the camera as our picture was taken,” Van Winkle said Monday afternoon. Lawson and the others were wearing protective clothing, but not gas masks. Because the monitor was not working properly, “the depot had no idea of whether chemical agent had leaked in that igloo,” he said.

 “(Depot officials) tell everyone what they are doing is safe,” Van Winkle said. “You may want to believe what the depot people say, but you know only what they tell you.”

 Lawson said no one from the depot informed her of any problems with the monitoring of the igloo she visited.

 Van Winkle’s allegations appeared to give her no cause for concern, however. The mayor said her faith in depot managers and their procedures remained unshaken.

 “I had to get a physical exam the day before my visit to the igloo,” Lawson said. “The safety precautions we followed were very meticulous. We wore protective clothing, even protective under garments” before entering the igloo.

 “I’ve had no health problems since my visit to the storage igloo,” she said. “I also get regular medical exams, and my doctors tell me I’m healthy.”

 Any potential problem with chemical agents at the depot only underscores the need to “quit playing games and expedite the destruction of the chemical weapons,” the mayor said Monday.

 Exposure to nerve agent may not have occurred during Lawson’s igloo visit, Van Winkle said, but “if there had been a leak before Mayor Lawson went in there, (depot officials) would not have known.”

 Van Winkle began to question depot managers after he and other workers received training in February 2005 from the gas chromatographs’ manufacturer, O.I. Analytical of College Station, Texas. The workers were taught how the monitors should be maintained, how often they should be inspected and when their filters should be changed, he said.

 “The trainers also told us where the monitors should be placed to get the best readings.”

 When the workers returned to the depot to resume their duties, however, “the depot’s chief chemist told us we would not be doing things the way the manufacturer taught us,” Van Winkle said.

 Depot personnel should enter the storage igloos “on a regular basis” to inspect the chromatographs and change filters on the devices that detect molecules of various chemicals in the atmosphere, Van Winkle said.

 “If we went in and inspected the monitors less often, it would save the depot money,” he said.

“Fewer inspections meant they could get by with fewer personnel,” he said. “They’d also save money by changing filters less often.”

 When workers asked if the alternate procedures had been tested, Van Winkle said, “the depot’s chemist told us they hadn’t been.”

 Supervisors still assured the workers that the procedures were safe, however.

 If the monitors were not used or maintained according to the manufacturer’s specifications, “would we be safe when we went into an igloo?” the workers asked. “That question was on everybody’s minds, and we were all worried about it,” Van Winkle said. “Most of the workers were afraid to say anything because they also were worried about their jobs.”

 After expressing his concerns in an affadavit filed in 2005 under provisions of the federal Clean Air Act, Van Winkle was relieved of duties in the chemical weapons area of the depot. He no longer is employed there.

 Van Winkle believes his affadavit led inspectors from the Kentucky Environmental Protection Cabinet to do more independent research and not rely on Army personnel to explain safety procedures. Also, after Van Winkle came forward, investigators from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the U.S. Army’s Inspector General undertook critical inspections of the depot.

 On Friday, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a Washington, D.C., watchdog group that has taken up Van Winkle’s case, announced that it had learned a federal grand jury has been convened to hear evidence from the investigations.

When contacted Monday, Van Winkle said he did not know of the criminal investigation, but he was not surprised to learn of the development.

 “I’m not trying to get anything for myself,” Van Winkle said. “I just want the truth to come out and for depot workers and the public to be safe.”

 During nearly nine years of service with the U.S. Army, Van Winkle said he worked in the military’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) program. “That’s probably why they hired me to work in the chemical activity at the depot after I started work there as a security guard,” he said.

 “When I joined the Army, I took an oath to defend the constitution and the people of the United States,” he said. “That obligation didn’t end with my active military duty.”

  Bill Robinson can be reached at brobinson@richmondregister.com or at 623-1669, Ext. 267.