NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Man sentenced
after woman shot in
head with nailgun
Hanford contractors to pay $125M settlement
SEATTLE
(AP)
—
Bechtel National Inc. and a
subcontractor have agreed to
pay $125 million to settle a
lawsuit alleging subpar work
in building a nuclear waste
treatment facility on the
Hanford Nuclear Reservation
in Washington state, along
with accusations that Bechtel
illegally used taxpayer
money for lobbying.
The settlement, filed
Wednesday in U.S. District
Court in Spokane, resolves
a lawsuit initially brought in
2013 by three whistleblowers
— managers at the nuclear
site who sued on behalf of the
federal government because
they worried about safety
issues at the Hanford Waste
Treatment Plant.
The waste is currently
stored in aging underground
tanks, dozens of which are
leaking, threatening the
Columbia River nearby.
Once completed, the
multibillion-dollar facility
is supposed to convert 56
million gallons of radioactive
nuclear waste left over from
the government’s nuclear
weapons
program
into
glass for safe storage deep
underground. But in joining
the whistleblowers’ lawsuit,
the U.S. Justice Department
said that for 13 years, Bechtel
and subcontractor URS
Corp. knowingly charged the
Department of Energy for
materials and services that
failed to meet rigorous stan-
dards for nuclear facilities.
The
government’s
investigation showed that
the companies “recklessly
purchased deficient materials
and services with taxpayer
money,” said Spokane U.S.
and complex radioactive
waste problem in U.S.
history.”
Bechtel will pay $67.5
million to the federal govern-
ment, while URS will pay
$57.5 million of the settle-
ment. For bringing the suit,
the whistleblowers, who said
they were retaliated against
or even fired for raising safety
concerns, are entitled to keep
15 to 25 percent of the total
payout, said Joe Harrington,
a spokesman for the U.S.
Attorney’s Office.
Hanford,
located
in
south-central
Washington
state, for decades made
plutonium
for
nuclear
weapons. The site is now
engaged in cleaning up the
nation’s largest collection of
nuclear waste.
Tom Carpenter, executive
director of the watchdog
group Hanford Challenge,
called the settlement “justice
being served.”
“This is a company that
probably should not be
working for the govern-
ment,” he said. “It started by
harassing and silencing whis-
tleblowers, and when they
brought their information
public, it caused the work at
the plant to be suspended.
“We still don’t have a
design for the waste treatment
plant after the whistleblowers
pointed out the nuclear safety
deficiencies in the design,”
he added. “We want the
plant to work, but there’s
little point in having a waste
treatment plant if it’s subject
to explosion.”
Bechtel was awarded the
contract to design and build
the Waste Treatment Plant in
2000.
Bob Brawdy/The Tri-City Herald via AP, File
In this 2010 file photo, Bechtel manager Scott
Neubauer, left, answers questions from Daniel
Poneman, deputy secretary of energy, during his tour
Hanford’s Waste Treatment Plant in Richland, Wash.
Federal prosecutors say Bechtel National Inc. and a
subcontractor have agreed to pay $125 million to set-
tle a lawsuit alleging subpar work in the construction
of a nuclear waste treatment facility on the Hanford
Nuclear Reservation.
Attorney Michael Ormsby,
which he called “deeply
concerning given the obvious
importance of nuclear safety”
at the plant.
“The money allocated by
Congress for the Waste Treat-
ment Plant is intended to fund
the Department of Energy’s
important mission to clean
up the contaminated Hanford
nuclear site, and this mission
is undermined if funds are
wasted on goods or services
that are not nuclear compliant
or to further lobbying activi-
ties,” Benjamin C. Mizer, the
head of the Justice Depart-
ment’s Civil Division, said in
a news release.
The
settlement
also
resolves accusations Bechtel,
a giant engineering and
construction
company,
illegally used taxpayer
dollars to fund a multiyear
lobbying campaign. Bechtel
paid lobbyists to downplay
to members of Congress
the significance of concerns
raised by an independent
federal oversight board,
prosecutors said.
The companies denied
any wrongdoing in the settle-
ment.
“We have performed our
work at the WTP project
ethically and professionally,”
Bechtel spokesman Fred
deSousa said in an emailed
statement. “A protracted
legal proceeding and the
distraction of a trial are not
in the best interest of the
WTP project. Instead, we
will focus on continuing to
work in collaboration with
the Department of Energy to
solve the most challenging
EUGENE (AP) — A
Thompson told police
former firefighter who he fired three nails from
authorities say shot nine the gun into the back of
3-inch nails into the back the woman’s head but then
of a woman’s head in a stopped. The woman “was
botched suicide pact in still alive and told him to
Oregon has been sentenced keep going (and) reminded
to two years in state prison Troy he had promised her
after accepting a
he would help
plea deal.
her,” according
Troy Vance
to court papers
Thompson
filed earlier in the
pleaded
guilty
case.
Tuesday
to
He then six
attempted
more nails into
second-degree
her skull and then
manslaughter
put one in his
after accepting a
own head before
deal that allowed Thompson
passing out, the
him to avoid
documents state.
a possible maximum
The woman’s mother
sentence of more than has told authorities that
seven years in custody, the her daughter has bipolar
Register Guard reported.
disorder and had stopped
The 31-year-old woman taking her medication
from Eugene survived but about three weeks before
suffered permanent brain the incident, the news-
damage from the nails.
paper reported. Thompson
“I’m very sorry about also told police that he had
how it turned out,” previous brain injuries, a
Thompson said in court. history of substance abuse
“I wish we could’ve done and suicidal thoughts,
something a little bit according to court papers.
different. We had no idea it
The victim’s mother
was going to be a halfway appeared at the court
thing, or we wouldn’t have hearing but declined to
done it.”
comment.
Thompson, 47, of
Lane County Circuit
Creswell told authorities Court Judge Mustafa
he first met the woman Kasubhai
said
that
the day before the incident although the incident
when she stopped her itself was unfortunate,
car on Highway 99 in “the underlying tragedy
Eugene and approached beyond that is that in our
him while he walked along community, people with
the road, according to a mental health conditions
search warrant affidavit find themselves so alone
filed in the case in June. that (suicide) becomes the
She told Thompson she only viable alternative.”
needed someone to kill her
Thompson will serve
because she didn’t want to three years of probation
be committed to a mental upon his release from
hospital.
prison.
The woman eventually
If he violates probation,
said she would rent a he will be sentenced to
gas-powered nail gun another three years and
and meet Thompson in four months behind bars,
the woods to carry out a according to the agree-
suicide pact.
ment.
BRIEFLY
State agencies warn pot
growers of pesticide use
BEND (AP) — State agencies are
reminding marijuana producers to limit
their use of pesticides in the wake of
two recent public health alerts.
The Bend Bulletin reports that
a letter from three state agencies
wars that cannabis producers whose
products test below “action levels”
for permitted pesticides may still be
violating state regulations if they use
pesticides banned by the state Pesticide
Control Act.
An action level is a low pesticide
measure that the authority requires of
testing laboratories as a measure of
accuracy. Action levels do not indicate
a safe level.
The letter, co-signed Monday by
the heads of the Health Authority,
Oregon Liquor Control Commission
and Oregon Department of Agriculture,
says growers that failed test results are
referred to the Agriculture Department
for futhher investigation.
Pair arrested on human
trafficking charge
KLAMATH FALLS (AP) — Two
Klamath Falls residents are facing
prostitution charges related to what
police say could be a widespread
human trafficking ring.
The Herald and News reports that
a 28-year-old man and a 26-year-old
woman were arrested last week.
According to an indictment, the pair
is believed to have forced at least one
female victim into prostitution on three
separate occasions between Oct. 8 and
Nov. 6 in Medford.
Medford Police Department
spokesman Lt. Kevin Walruff says the
investigation is ongoing. He says the
Klamath Falls pair is believed to be part
a human trafficking ring with roots in
Medford and Bend and connections to
Washington and Wyoming.
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REGIONAL CITIES
Forecast
TODAY
FRIDAY
Occasional
afternoon rain
Cloudy with a bit
of rain
53° 42°
51° 41°
SATURDAY
Cloudy with a
shower in spots
SUNDAY
Partial sunshine
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
49° 34°
45° 36°
45° 32°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
53° 37°
54° 40°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
48°
38°
45°
31°
75° (1933) -12° (1985)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
0.27"
0.78"
1.09"
11.17"
7.47"
11.12"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
Yesterday
Normals
Records
LOW
53°
40°
47°
31°
68° (2011) -11° (1985)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
0.15"
0.45"
0.89"
7.78"
5.16"
8.20"
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
New
First
Full
50° 38°
7:07 a.m.
4:16 p.m.
2:13 a.m.
2:20 p.m.
Last
Spokane
Wenatchee
42/38
45/37
Tacoma
Moses
50/41
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 48/39
45/39
49/44
49/41
52/36
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
51/45
52/43 Lewiston
55/42
Astoria
48/40
54/47
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
52/45
Pendleton 39/34
The Dalles 54/40
53/42
52/41
La Grande
Salem
44/41
52/45
Albany
Corvallis 53/45
53/45
John Day
46/42
Ontario
Eugene
Bend
49/33
54/43
46/35
Caldwell
Burns
50/37
44/28
Dec 7
Dec 13
Dec 20
Astoria
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Burns
Enterprise
Eugene
Heppner
Hermiston
John Day
Klamath Falls
La Grande
Meacham
Medford
Newport
North Bend
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Redmond
Salem
Spokane
Ukiah
Vancouver
Walla Walla
Yakima
Hi
54
41
46
53
44
39
54
49
54
46
44
44
42
53
54
56
49
56
53
52
51
52
42
44
51
52
52
Lo
47
35
35
47
28
34
43
40
40
42
32
41
38
42
46
47
33
41
42
45
34
45
38
36
46
43
36
W
r
pc
c
r
pc
pc
r
r
r
pc
pc
pc
pc
c
r
r
pc
r
r
r
c
r
r
c
r
r
r
Hi
55
41
45
51
43
40
50
50
53
46
44
46
43
50
52
54
48
55
51
51
49
51
44
44
51
52
51
Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
Lo
17
59
39
43
41
28
46
56
25
59
38
W
s
c
s
pc
pc
pc
c
t
s
s
sn
Lo
44
32
35
46
25
34
42
38
37
41
32
38
38
39
43
45
32
36
41
43
33
42
37
36
44
38
35
W
r
sn
c
r
sn
sn
r
r
r
r
c
sn
sn
r
c
r
c
r
r
c
c
c
r
sn
c
r
c
Fri.
Hi
40
69
56
51
70
34
49
65
43
75
47
(in mph)
Klamath Falls
44/32
Boardman
Pendleton
Lo
22
63
37
41
43
22
43
48
30
63
42
W
pc
c
s
pc
pc
sn
sh
pc
pc
s
pc
REGIONAL FORECAST
Coastal Oregon: Breezy today with periods
of rain, some heavy.
Eastern and Central Oregon: Mostly cloudy
today; a little rain across the north.
Eastern Washington: A little rain today; snow
and rain, accumulating 1-3 inches in the
north and a bit of snow in the mountains.
Cascades: Snow and rain, heaviest and
steadiest across the north. Snow level
3,000-4,500 feet.
Northern California: Periods of rain at
the coast today; times of clouds and sun
elsewhere. Rain tonight.
Today
Friday
S 7-14
SSE 8-16
S 4-8
S 6-12
UV INDEX TODAY
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
0
1
1
1
0
NEWS
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COMMERCIAL PRINTING
Production Manager: Mike Jensen
541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
WORLD CITIES
Hi
39
67
58
53
69
30
56
69
38
72
40
Classified & Legal Advertising
1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678
classifieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Fri.
WINDS
Medford
53/42
Western Washington: Periods of rain, some
heavy today.
Nov 29
52° 32°
Seattle
51/44
ALMANAC
Yesterday
Normals
Records
50° 37°
Today
MONDAY
Rain and drizzle in
the morning
The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and
sincerely regrets any errors. If you notice a mistake in
the paper, please call 541-966-0818.
Advertising Director: Marissa Williams
541-278-2669 • addirector@eastoregonian.com
Advertising Services: Laura Jensen
541-966-0806 • ljensen@eastoregonian.com
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• Terri Briggs
541-278-2678 • tbriggs@eastoregonian.com
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541-564-4531 • jjewett@eastoregonian.com
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541-966-0827 • cmcclellan@eastoregonian.com
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541-278-2687 • snewsom@eastoregonian.com
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Subscriber services:
For home delivery, vacation stops or delivery concerns: 1-800-522-0255
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
Corrections
0
8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m.
0-2, Low
3-5, Moderate 6-7, High;
8-10, Very High;
11+, Extreme
The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num-
ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2016
-10s
-0s
showers t-storms
0s
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
40s
snow
ice
50s
60s
cold front
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
National Summary: Spotty rain will affect part of the Atlantic Seaboard and central
Appalachians today. A wintry mix will linger over the interior Northeast and dot the north-
ern Plains. Rain will soak the Northwest.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 88° in McAllen, Texas
Low -5° in Bodie State Park, Calif.
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Albuquerque
Atlanta
Atlantic City
Baltimore
Billings
Birmingham
Boise
Boston
Charleston, SC
Charleston, WV
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Fargo
Honolulu
Houston
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Little Rock
Los Angeles
Hi
54
72
57
55
45
72
49
43
77
60
43
51
71
49
50
68
-5
39
83
72
48
78
54
62
61
79
Lo
31
54
44
38
30
45
38
41
54
44
31
38
48
26
35
45
-11
27
73
52
34
53
33
39
41
51
W
pc
r
r
pc
pc
pc
pc
c
pc
c
c
c
s
s
c
pc
s
c
c
s
c
s
pc
s
s
s
Fri.
Hi
54
72
55
58
50
70
50
49
78
56
43
46
65
59
47
62
-3
44
82
75
48
79
53
61
63
75
Lo
33
47
45
36
34
41
38
43
51
35
29
37
41
30
34
44
-8
26
72
50
32
54
33
42
34
50
Today
W
s
s
c
c
pc
s
pc
sh
pc
c
c
c
s
s
r
pc
s
pc
pc
pc
c
pc
s
s
pc
s
Louisville
Memphis
Miami
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
Nashville
New Orleans
New York City
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Portland, ME
Providence
Raleigh
Rapid City
Reno
Sacramento
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
Tucson
Washington, DC
Wichita
Hi
58
63
81
44
37
64
75
50
68
48
55
76
40
47
65
47
52
57
53
47
77
60
51
78
58
64
Lo
37
43
70
33
30
43
56
44
37
28
41
52
32
39
46
21
30
39
38
28
48
48
44
49
43
32
W
c
s
pc
c
c
pc
pc
r
s
pc
c
s
c
r
sh
sn
pc
pc
pc
pc
s
pc
r
s
pc
s
Fri.
Hi
57
63
80
44
39
64
74
52
61
52
56
78
45
52
69
57
55
58
55
54
73
62
52
79
61
59
Lo
35
39
68
31
25
36
55
44
29
29
44
56
36
41
43
30
37
45
32
34
51
51
41
53
43
31
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
W
c
pc
pc
r
c
pc
pc
c
pc
s
c
s
r
sh
pc
s
r
r
pc
pc
s
c
c
s
c
s