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NRC NEWS
U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION IV
611 Ryan Plaza Drive - Suite 400
Arlington, Texas 76011-8064 |
| CONTACT: |
Breck Henderson (817) 860-8128 |
RIV: 96-54 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Breck Henderson September 20, 1996
OFFICE: 817/860-8128
PAGER: (800) 443-7243 (065477)
NRC PROPOSES TO FINE HL&P $200,000
IN WHISTLEBLOWER CASES
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission Staff has informed Houston Lighting & Power
Co. that it proposes to fine the company $200,000 for discrimination against two workers
who raised safety concerns at HL&P's South Texas Project nuclear power plant near Bay
City, Texas.
The two workers, Thomas H. Smith and Earl V. Keene, were employees of Ebasco
Services Inc. and Raytheon Co., respectively, contractors at the South Texas Project (STP)
plant. In both cases, the U. S. Department of Labor (DOL) ruled after conducting
adjudicatory hearings that discrimination occurred. The NRC customarily relies on DOL
determinations in deciding whether NRC employee protection requirements were violated.
L. Joe Callan, NRC Regional Administrator, said in a letter to William T. Cottle,
Group Vice President Nuclear at HL&P, "The NRC recognizes that HL&P was not a party
to either proceeding before the DOL; however, this does not relieve HL&P of its
responsibility for the actions of its contractors."
The first violation is based on findings from a DOL proceeding in which the Secretary
of Labor, in a decision issued March 13, found that Thomas H. Smith was discriminated
against in 1991. After Mr. Smith raised concerns about scaffolding practices he was
depicted in offensive office cartoons as a whistleblower.
The second violation is based on a DOL proceeding in which a Recommended
Decision and Order issued Sept. 29, 1995, found that Earl V. Keene was discriminated
against after he raised concerns about signing off for electrical maintenance work he did not
perform. He was subsequently given a low performance appraisal rating, laid off in March
1994 and subjected to unnecessary fitness-for-duty testing when he reapplied for work in
May 1994.
The violation involving Mr. Smith has been categorized as a Severity Level II, and that
involving Mr. Keene Severity Level III under the NRC's four-level system. Level I is the
most severe violation. Civil penalties have been assessed at $100,000 for each violation.
In his letter to HL&P, Mr. Callan acknowledged that HL&P has taken comprehensive
actions since 1993 to ". . . enhance the environment for raising concerns at [South Texas],
to assure that employees are aware of the various means for raising concerns, and to
improve the [South Texas] employee concerns program."
HL&P must respond to the Notice of Violation in writing within 30 days, during
which time it may pay the civil penalty or protest it. If the protest is denied, the company
may ask for a hearing.
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