Editorial: Yucca probe moves ahead

Friday, July 1, 2005 | 8:43 a.m.

One of the central figures under scrutiny in a congressional investigation, which is looking into whether scientists fabricated scientific work on the Yucca Mountain project, testified before Congress on Wednesday. Joe Hevesi, a U.S. Geological Survey scientist, told a House subcommittee that he didn't falsify any information in the scientific inquiry to determine whether Yucca Mountain could safely store 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste.

Hevesi contended that e-mails he wrote used "poor wording" and nothing more. One of those e-mails with "poor wording" contained the following sentence: "I don't have a clue when these programs were installed. So I've made up the dates and names. ... This is as good as it's going to get. If they need more proof, I will be happy to make up stuff." Hevesi told the subcommittee, according to an Associated Press account of the hearing, that the e-mail reflected his surprise that some nonessential programs had to go through quality assurance. Rep. Jon Porter, chairman of the House subcommittee investigating the issue, said that while Hevesi denied falsifying data, that doesn't mean the probe is over. "As I've stated before, we will get to the bottom of this mess," Porter said.

Porter expressed his frustration that the Energy Department continues to be uncooperative with the probe. The congressman still is waiting for documents related to e-mails written by Hevesi and other scientists. Porter is weighing the possibility of issuing a subpoena to get action. "Is (the Energy Department) unable to provide information due to poor management, or are they hiding something?" Porter asked. We don't believe, as Porter suggests, that it is necessarily an either-or proposition. In light of the Energy Department's abysmal track record on the Yucca Mountain Project, the department is quite capable of being poorly run and hiding something simultaneously. Porter has demonstrated diligence so far in this investigation, and we hope his doggedness continues with support from the rest of the subcommittee.