Rocketdyne employees indicted
SIMI VALLEY, April 28 (UPI) _ A federal grand jury has returned a four-count felony indictment against three employees of a Rocketdyne laboratory in Simi Valley.
U.S. Attorney Alejandro N. Mayorkas said today that the defendants allegedly burned explosive hazardous materials that in one instance caused the death of two other Rocketdyne workers.
The three defendants are specifically charged with violating environmental laws by illegally storing and burning explosive wastes at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory.
The 2,700 acre facility was operated by Rockwell International Corp, Rocketdyne Division, which has since been purchased by the Boeing Corp. Mayorkas said Boeing has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Those charged today were Joseph E. Flanagan, 58, James F. Weber, 49, and Edgar R. Wilson, 62.
The indictment alleges that from May 1, 1994 through July 20, 1994, Wilson unlawfully burned explosive wastes at the facility. The indictment further alleges that on July 21 and July 26 of 1994, all three defendants again unlawfully burned explosive wastes.
Flanagan and Webber were also charged with unlawfully storing the explosive wastes at the Rocketdyne facility.
Mayorkas said, ''The environmental laws are designed to protect our natural resources, to protect our safety, and to protect the world for future generations.''
''Individuals who violate those laws threaten our world in the most fundamental way,'' she said. ''Those individuals will be prosecuted with all of our might, in the service of the public interest.''
The waste products at the center of the indictment are considered to be explosive or ''energetic.'' They were developed by Rocketdyne for use as gun propellants or aerospace fuels.
Mayorkas said all three defendants were charged with storing and/or disposing of hazardous waste without a permit as required by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
If convicted, each defendant faces five years in prison and fines up to $250,000 for each felony count.
On July 26, 1994, two Rocketdyne employees, Otto Heiney and Larry Pugh, were killed and a third worker was seriously injured in an explosion that occurred during the burring of wastes.
In April 1996, Rockwell, on behalf of its Rocketdyne Division, pleaded guilty to three felony counts of unlawfully storing and disposing of hazardous wastes and paid a criminal fine of $6.5 million. _-
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