| The cover-up
story in a nutshell
A review of
official documents shows the UA and/or Turner Laboratories withheld results
of a water quality test from ADEQ and concocted a cover story to hide their
action.
Withholding
the test result allowed the UA to claim that contaminants detected in water
samples taken from a monitoring well April 26, 2000 was "an anomaly," and
did not confirm that Page-Trowbridge is leaking to groundwater.
Withholding
test results is a violation of federal law.
Facts Contradict UA
Story
According to
the UA, two tests are required to confirm the finding of contaminants.
Even though
test results at Turner Labs show there were two tests run on the April
26 samples and that both tests detected toluene and other contaminants,
the UA continues to claim only one test was performed.
According to
the UA, the reason only one test run on the April samples was because Turner
Laboratories didn't have the duplicate sample for Monitoring Well #5.
The UA story
is contradicted by the chain of custody form show that the duplicate for
Monitoring Well #5 was turned over to Turner Labs.
Manufacturing The Anomaly
Because the
UA claims there was only one test on the April 26 samples, the UA claims
to have made a second trip to Page-Trowbridge May 17, 2000 to obtain water
for another set of tests. The UA claims to have re-sampled Monitoring Well
#5 on this trip. Tests on this water failed to detect contaminants.
Since the finding
of toluene had already been confirmed in two tests, this second sampling
run was completely unnecessary.
Tests on the
second set of samples showed no contaminants, allowing the UA to maintain
that the finding of toluene in the April sample was "an anomaly." |
The offical
response: silence
|
AG Mum on
Investigation
 On
Feb. 26, 2001, the Office of the Arizona Attorney General was presented
with compelling evidence that the UA concealed a test confirming Page-Trowbridge
is leaking to groundwater.
A month-and-a-half
later, Kevin Mann, AG investigator, responded to citizen requests
for a report on the status of the investigation.
Mann
stated that the AG's office was investigating the matter, but would make
no other comment.
Number
of days without a disposition of the case by the Office of the Arizona
Attorney General:
|
ADEQ: The
Watchdog That Won't Bark
Steve
Holland and Nancy Turner aren't the only ones trying to play dumb regarding
the cover-up of a test confirming that Page-Trowbridge is leaking to groundwater.
Not
only does the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality refuse to inform
local residents of the status of the investigation into the cover-up, ADEQ
won't even acknowledge that they received several requests to do so.
ADEQ
was initially informed of the cover-up on November 7, 2000. Some
30 days and many excuses later, ADEQ finally found the time to meet with
residents.
On
December 8. 2000 , ADEQ was presented with evidence that the UA and/or
Turner Laboratories willfully falsified a report to ADEQ.
As
of today, the watchdog still hasn't barked, nor even had the courtesy to
explain why.
Number
of days that the watchdog has played dumb:
|
Unanswered
Questions
Questions
Holland Refuses To Answer
Holland
|
Steve
Holland, director of University of Arizona risk management and safety,
has so far refused to answer questions about the cover-up of a test confirming
the Page-Trowbridge radioactive/ toxic waste dump is leaking to groundwater.
Number
of days without an answer:
Click
HERE
to read the questions Holland refuses to answer. |
Questions
Turner Refuses To Answer
Nancy Turner, president of Turner
Laboratories, Inc., has so far refused to answer questions about the cover-up
of a test confirming the Page-Trowbridge radioactive/toxic
waste dump is leaking to groundwater.
Number
of days without an answer:
Click
HERE
to read the questions Turner refuses to answer. |
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