- A new book co-written by the foreman of the grand jury
that investigated the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant from 1989 to 1991
accuses the government of lying and covering up environmental crimes at
the site.
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- "The surprise is not a surprise, that our government
lies to us and we continue to trust them," said Wes McKinley, a self-described
cowboy who made an unsuccessful bid for Congress in 1996.
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- In the book, The Ambushed Grand Jury, published by Apex
Press, Mc-Kinley and his co-author, New Mexico lawyer Caron Balkany, revive
the allegation that operators at the plant in Jefferson County burned nuclear
waste at night.
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- They quote a former Rocky Flats worker who said he was
the foreman of the crew that burned the waste over a weekend shortly before
he quit working there.
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- The "midnight burning" allegation was a key
part of the Justice Department's original case against the plant operators.
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- Photographs taken by an FBI plane that flew over the
plant took thermal images that were used as the basis for a search warrant.
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- The warrant led to a June 1989 FBI raid on the plant.
But prosecutors later dismissed the value of the aerial photographs because
they measured temperature differences, not actual temperatures. Thus on
a cold night, the plant appeared to be burning hot, they contended.
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- Some of the 23 members of the grand jury wanted to indict
individuals at the Department of Energy and Rockwell International, which
ran the plant from 1975 until late 1989.
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- Instead, the U.S. attorney's office reached a plea agreement,
in which Rockwell agreed to pay an $18.5 million fine, but no one was charged.
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- As recently as last week, members of the grand jury sought
permission to waive grand jury secrecy and tell their story. A federal
judge denied their request.
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- With the book, McKinley sets off in a different direction.
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- "I know some folks think I'm violating my Rule 6(e)
Grand Jury secrecy oath by doing this," he writes. "But we don't
think the Rule or the Constitution or the law was meant to protect illegal
acts of the Justice Department."
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- The book then quotes excepts from a journal that McKinley
has been keeping since 1985. The journal entries describe in detail a tense
standoff between McKinley and then U.S. Attorney Mike Norton.
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- McKinley said that Norton asked the grand jury to rewrite
its report and to approve an indictment against Rockwell. "No, I said.
We will not rewrite the report. We are going to hand in all of our documents
as they now exist," McKinley wrote.
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- On Monday, Norton disputed the central premise of the
book.
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- "The people that were involved in that process for
the Justice Department were good and honorable people with integrity,"
he said.
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- "I understand and appreciate the motives and emotions
of grand jurors who thought they were there for a specific purpose, but
from my perspective, I'm obligated to abide by the rule of law and not
by the passions of the moment."
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