REGIONAL
‘Dr. Death’ takes the Fifth
PONTIAC, Mich. (AH) -
This inventor of a suicide
machine refused to answer
questions during n court
hearing Tuesday on whether
he can have his device back
The machine was seized
by Oakland County authori
ties after Or lack Kevorkian,
who says his friends call
him "Dr Death." helped a
r>4-year-old woman with
Alzheimer’s disease inject
herself with a fatal dose of
an anesthetic and a heart
slopping drug
Kevorkian. B2. was
charged Monday with first
degree murder for hi* role in
the |une 4 death of |anet Ad
kins of Portland, who had
been diagnosed with Alz
heimer's disease
Michigan has no specific
laws against assisting with
suicide, but Oakland County
Prosecutor Richard Thomp
son maintained that
Kevorkian was the “primary
and legal" cause of Adkins'
death.
Kevorkian refused to an
swer any questions when as
sistant Prosecutor Michael
Modrlski called him to the
stand during the hearing
over authorities' request to
make permanent a court or
der forbidding the retired
pathologist from using his
machine, or others like it.
"On the advice of coun
sel. I invoke the Fifth
Amendment." Kevorkian re
peated to each of Mndelski's
questions. including re
quests for the doctor to state
his name, occupation, edu
cation ami medical back
ground.
Oakland County Circuit
Court ludgo Alice L. Gilbert
adjourned the hearing until
Monday.
If Kevorkian testified in
the civil case his right to a
fair trial in a criminal ease
would be jeopardized, said
Kevorkian's attorney. Geof
frey Fieger.
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Hanford whistle blower settles
in agreement over harassment
KICIII.AM), Wash |AP)
An engineer who complained
she was harassed after raising
safety concerns about Hanford
nuclear waste storage tanks
rea« lied agreement Tuesday
with her employer Westing
house Ilanford < 'o
Inez Austin agreed to with
draw a complaint she filed \\ ith
the I' S Department ol l-alior
She also agreed not to partici
pate in any legal at lion against
Weslinghouse arising from the
case
Weslinghouse is the main
government contractor at the
riOD-sipiarc-mile Hanford nude
ar reservation in southcentral
Washington
Austin complained to report
ers recently that she had been
harassed by her supervisors af
ter warning last summer that
removing liquids from two nu
clear waste storage tanks could
cause the contents to explode
A separate, subsequent Gen
eral Accounting Office report
said too little was known about
the explosive potential of tin
tanks and the consequences of
an explosion.
Under Tuesday's agreement,
the company admitted no
wrongdoing. Austin remains a
Westinghouse employee
Roger Nichols, Westinghouse
Hanford president, said comps
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nv Vice President Michael
horenko has been appointed to
review her allegations
"In no way should today's
agreement lx- construed as
judging the merits of this
case." Nichols said. "Dr
Korenko’s job is to determine
the facts of this case
The company pursued the
agreement in order to encour
age whistle blowers to come
forward. Nichols said.
"Now is not the time to send
our employees the wrong mes
sages about our desire to have
them raise concerns." Nichols
said.
Austin could not be reached
for comment Tuesday at work
or at home Calls to her home
phone were answered by a re
corded message
Nichols said Westinghouse
Hanford and the reservation arc
in transition from making plu
tonium fur nuclear weapons to
waste management and envi
ronmental restoration of the
huge site
"We need our employees to
uncover problems of the past
and to bring safety, environ
mental and quality concerns to
management's attention.''
Nichols said.
Despite the allegations. Nich
ols said safety was never com
promised at the tank farms, fie
said the liquid removal issue
was already being reviewed by
a team of experts at the time
Austin's concerns were raised
and has been satisfactorily re
solved.
Under terms of the agree
ment:
• A letter of reprimand will lx
removed from Austin’s file.
She can also review all her
company files and remove any
derogatory information from
the incident.
Her latest performance ap
praisal. the lowest she had ever
received, will be upgraded
• She will l>e offered a choice
of new transfer assignments
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within the company, and she
will get a pay increase and
overtime.
• She will receive one month
of paid time off beginning
Wednesday,
• Her $5,000 in legal tees will
he paid by the company
Six weeks ago Energy Secre
tary lames Watkins toured Han
ford and promised whistle
blowers would be protected
and rewarded. In November.
Westinghouse Hanford publicly
issued guidelines for protecting
whistle blowers.
Austin's concerns were about
tanks that were revealed last
year to contain ferrocyanide.
which could explode if internal
tank temperatures top 400 de
grees fahrenheit. The chemical
was added in the 1950s to con
centrate the tank liquids.
Under a cleanup agreement
reached between the state and
the federal government, tank
liquids are being gradually
pumped out.
last summer Austin refused
to authorize the pumping of
two of the tanks containing
ferrocyanide. said her lawyer
Tom Carpenter.
Austin, a Hanford employee
since 1979, feared that remov
ing liquids could cause the in
ternal temperatures to rise, pos
sibly to dangerous levels. Car
penter has said.
Fifteen of the ferrocyanide
tanks have been pumped in the
past without incident, compa
ny spokesman John Burk has
said.
After arguing with supervi
sors over her refusal. Austin
contended that her workload
was sharply reduced. She was
also told by a company official
to see a psychologist, failed to
receive work mail and was
moved to an unattractive office
in a trailer. Carpenter said.
Carpenter said Austin's re
cent job evaluation was '"clear
ly retaliatory."
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