Scientist continued work despite probe

Suzanne Struglinski

Tuesday, April 12, 2005 | 11:12 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- More research within the U.S. Geological Survey found that scientist Joe Hevesi completed 40 hours of work on the Yucca Mountain project last month, despite being under investigation for possibly falsifying documents.

Hevesi did $4,900 worth of work for the Energy Department in March to help find computer files he helped create, despite the Interior Department's assurances to lawmakers that after investigations were launched into e-mails that indicated false information had been submitted none of the subjects of the probe were still working on the project.

The latest news about Hevesi's work also contradicts federal agency statements that Hevesi's brief assignment was not completed.

At a House hearing last week, USGS Director Charles Groat told the House Federal Workforce and Agency Organization subcommittee that no one under investigation for possibly falsifying data was still working on the project.

The USGS clarified his statement with the subcommittee, of which Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., is chairman, later that week saying one scientist did go back to the project in March to help find a computer file. To review documents possibly affected by the alleged falsification, the Energy Department needed a missing computer file and tapped Hevesi to help find or create a new one, officials said.

The department said that the work was not complete and would not be billed, but based on further research by USGS staff of employment records, prompted by Porter's requests for detailed employment histories of those under investigation, the USGS found that Hevesi completed 40 hours of work from March 16 through 18 and March 21 through 22, after the department announced it had found e-mails suggest scientific data was changed.

Hevesi is one of several workers that Porter has asked to testify about the controversial e-mails.

USGS spokeswoman A.B. Wade said initially the agency used accounting information to check the status of Hevesi's work, which showed nothing had been billed, but further research found the work had been completed.

She said she does not know if the Energy Department received the information it needed, but that Hevesi did work for 40 hours for the department. He is still a USGS employee, but his work for the Energy Department would need to be paid for by the Energy Department.

Wade said the Energy Department called for a halt of the contract last week after it learned Hevesi's was reassigned, but the contracted work was already done.

The Energy Department is still investigating the exact details, according to department spokeswoman Anne Womack Kolton.

The Sun has gotten no respones to e-mail messages and calls to the scientists' homes and offices.

The Energy Department announced last month that it discovered e-mail sent by U.S. Geological Survey employees between May 18, 1998, and March 20, 2000, that suggest they falsified scientific data while working on the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The scientists were working on water infiltration projects, which look at how water moves through the mountain.

Water studies are critical to the mountain's safety because water can corrode storage containers holding the waste, allowing radiation to escape, and water contaminated by radiation can trickle down into the groundwater under the mountain.

Porter is chairman of House Federal Workforce and Agency Organization Subcommittee, which can investigate government employee problems. The subcommittee held a hearing last week with Nevada, Energy Department and Interior Department officials. Porter plans to hold a second hearing Wednesday, but exact plans are still unknown because it is not clear who will come to testify.

The Interior Department told Porter on Friday that it would be "inappropriate" for three employees, including Hevesi, to appear before the subcommittee while investigations were under way.

The reassignment is a clear example of how the department is running the project, said Bob Loux, director of Nevada's Agency of Nuclear Projects.

"They did this knowing he was involved," Loux said. "Apparently he is the only one who knows how the model works and it is still central. That tells you everything you need to know about the integrity of DOE's (the Energy Department's) program."

The Nevada congressional delegation and state officials want an independent commission to review the Yucca Mountain project.

"The only way we will get to the bottom of this mess is to take the matter entirely out of DOE's hands and make sure the department and its contractors are not able to compromise evidence and obstruct the investigations," Loux said. "You can only do this by assuring the complete independence of whatever entity is doing the investigating."