Environmental Advocates
National Whistleblower Center
Pace
Law School Energy Project
For Immediate Release:
Contact:
Kyle Rabin - Environmental Advocates: 518-462-5526 ext.
240
Stephen Kohn - National Whistleblower Center:
202-342-6980 or 202-342-1903
Dave Lochbaum - Union of Concerned Scientists:
202-223-6133 x 137
Anne Golden - Outten & Golden, LLP: 212-245-1000
NEW
ENVIRONMENT & LABOR COALITION CALLS ON THE STATE SENATE TO PASS LEGISLATION
DESIGNED TO PROTECT NUCLEAR WHISTLEBLOWERS
(Albany, NY) - A coalition of over 35 labor and
environmental organizations is calling on members of the New York State Senate
to pass legislation, to establish a nuclear power plant whistleblower access
and assistance program. The bill, S.
521, is sponsored by Senator Thomas P. Morahan. (Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky
has sponsored this legislation throughout the past decade. Last year, this legislation passed the
Assembly but stalled in the Senate.
Ironically, this bill passed the Senate in 1993 when then Senator George
Pataki sponsored the bill.)
“In light of electric utility deregulation, there has never been a greater need for a program that protects safety-conscious workers who ‘blow the whistle’ on employer actions or inaction which pose a threat to nuclear safety or the health of workers and the public,” said Kyle Rabin, Nuclear Energy Policy Project Director for Environmental Advocates. Deregulation exposes nuclear power plant operators and its workforce to the competitive pressures of the new energy marketplace. Recent concerns raised by employees at the Indian Point 2 and 3 nuclear power plants clearly indicate the negative impact that deregulation is having on worker health and safety.
“Tight electricity markets and
the potential for very high electricity prices over the next several years in
New York are placing a lot of pressure on power plant owners to squeeze out
more megawatts. That pressure requires
the state to take give a top priority to protecting safety-conscious workers at
New York’s six nuclear power plants,” said Ed Smeloff, executive Director of
Pace Law School Energy Project.
The assertion that deregulation is negatively
impacting workers is further supported by a report
released in January 2001 by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Office of
Investigations which shows that the number of worker discrimination allegations
at the national level is rising – 80 in 1998, 86 in 1999, and 98 in 2000).
According to the nation's foremost experts on
whistleblower law, New York State has one of the weakest provisions in the
nation with respect to providing adequate protection to safety-conscious
nuclear power plant workers. The inadequacies of New York's 1984 “Whistleblower
Statute” make true protection in New York all but non-existent.
Unlike almost all other whistleblower laws, the New
York statute requires not only a “good faith” and reasonable belief that a
“law, rule or regulation” has in fact been violated, but the employee must also
demonstrate an actual violation. “This
requirement inhibits the disclosure of potentially improper conduct and creates
a very difficult element of proof - one that could require an employee to hire
expensive experts and conduct a technical trial-within-a-trial in order to
demonstrate illegality,” said Stephen Kohn of the National Whistleblower
Center.
“This legislation is acutely needed,” said Anne
Golden, a partner at Outten & Golden LLP, attorneys for employees in New
York City. “Look at what happened in
the case of Bordell v. General Electric Co., 88 N.Y.2d 869 (1996). An employee who worked at a nuclear power
plant was fired after he told the U.S. Department of Energy that some employees
might have been exposed to excessive radiation levels. The highest court in New York State decided
that he didn’t have a case under the private-sector Whistleblower Law because
he was fired before he could gather information that might have proved an
‘actual’ violation of federal regulations.
His ‘reasonable belief’ wasn’t enough,” Golden explained.
Recent concerns raised by employees at the Indian
Point 2 and 3 nuclear power plants clearly indicate the need for stronger
nuclear whistleblower protection. A
report filed in late 2000 by an employee at Con Edison’s Indian Point 2 (IP-2)
plant, indicates that supervisory disdain for employee concerns has created a
“chilling effect” which discourages safety-conscious workers from reporting
problems. In February of this year – according to a March 1, 2001 New York Times article
– an engineer working for a contractor at the IP-2 nuclear plant quit in a
dispute over a safety issue, specifically, the reliability of the system that
triggers automatic shutdowns during equipment failure.
About eight percent of the nation’s population
live within 50 miles of the two Indian Point nuclear plants. “Nuclear plant workers are the first line of
defense in protecting the public from nuclear accidents,” said David Lochbaum,
nuclear safety engineer for the Union of Concerned Scientists, “the proposed
bill to protect them really protects us.” “This legislation, not only protects
those working on the frontlines, it safeguards the public health and safety of
millions of people who live within a short distance of New York’s six
commercial reactors,” said Lochbaum.
“We commend Senator Morahan and Assemblyman Brodsky
for introducing this legislation and for continuing to push its passage,” said
Rabin. “This coalition of labor and
environmental groups is calling upon the New York State Senate to pass S. 521
this session.”
If S. 521 is enacted, it will create an access and
assistance program that includes:
·
A provision that would amend the inadequate 1984
“Whistleblower Statute” so that an employee can have a claim for employer
retaliation, regardless of whether an employee’s safety concern relates to a
violation of a law or regulation.
·
A
requirement that New York State establish a toll-free telephone and facsimile
line that is available to all persons within the state’s nuclear industry. The purpose of this line would be to offer:
advice regarding the employee’s rights and options, an opportunity to identify
any safety concerns, and the option of contacting a neutral consultant for the purpose
of seeking unbiased, non-governmental information to help resolve safety
concerns.
·
A
requirement that a preliminary evaluation of any safety concern communicated
through the toll-free line be conducted within 72 hours. An opportunity exists
to comment upon the preliminary evaluation.
In addition, follow-up reports would be conducted every two weeks after
the preliminary evaluation.
·
Provisions
that strengthen previous confidentiality requirements designed to shield the
identity of inside whistleblowers and all persons within the state’s nuclear
power industry who have knowledge of issues that affect public health and
safety.
·
Provisions
that would protect independent contractors as much as permanent employees. (Under the 1984 statute, independent
contractors are not protected.)
The following groups support S. 521 / A.528:
AFL-CIO (New York
State)
Bernabei
and Katz
Cancer Awareness
Coalition
Chenango
North Energy Awareness Group
Citizens Awareness
Network
Citizens
Environmental Coalition
Citizens
for the Hudson Valley
Common
Cause/NY
Government
Accountability Project
GRACE
Public Fund
National
Employment Lawyers Association/NY
National
Employee Rights Institute
National
Whistleblower Center
Natural Resources
Defense Council
New
York Lawyers for the Public Interest
New York Public
Interest Research Group
New
York State Greens
No Escape
Nuclear Free New York
Nuclear Information
& Resource Service
Outten & Golden LLP
Pace Law School
Energy Project
Paper,
Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union
Public Citizen’s
Critical Mass Energy Project
Rockland County
Environmental Management Council
Safe Legacy
Sierra Club –
Atlantic Chapter
Solidarity
Committee of the Capital District/Jobs with Justice
Standing for Truth
About Radiation
Union of Concerned
Scientists
Utility Workers Union
of America
We the People
Westchester People’s
Action Coalition
Women's
Action for New Directions