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US Department of Labor finds federal helium enrichment unit failed to follow safe chemical handling procedures in Amarillo, Texas
AMARILLO, TX – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found that the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management violated procedures for safe handling of chemical materials at its Cliffside Helium Enrichment Unit in Amarillo, a federal chemical producing plant that refines and sells helium products to private entities.
OSHA issued the facility 21 notices of unsafe working conditions. This is OSHA’s first use of the egregious violation policy in citing unsafe working conditions at a federal facility. The violations of process safety management procedures would carry a private sector penalty of $1,023,987.
The Department of Interior’s Office of the Inspector General initiated the June 8, 2021, inspection after the OIG received serious safety and health allegations from workers at the facility.
“OSHA found the Bureau of Land Management’s Cliffside Helium Enrichment Unit willfully and repeatedly failed to take required safety measures to ensure the facility’s compliance with federal safety and health procedures and protect employees from chemical production hazards,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Douglas Parker. “Federal employers, just like private sector employers, are responsible for knowing what hazards exist in their facilities and taking appropriate precautions to keep workers safe.”
Six willful safety violations include failing to train workers to understand the purpose and function of the energy control program, and five egregious willful violations are for failing to perform inspections and tests on process equipment. OSHA cited serious violations for process safety management failures, and other-than-serious safety violations involved notification and records violations.
As required by the Occupational Safety and Health Act, federal agencies must comply with the same safety standards as private sector employers. The federal agency equivalent to a private sector citation is the notice of unsafe and unhealthful working conditions. A notice is used to inform establishment officials of violations of OSHA standards, alternate standards, and 29 Code of Federal Regulations citable program elements. Monetary penalties are not assessed to federal agencies for failing to comply with OSHA standards.
The BLM’s Cliffside Helium Enrichment Unit has 15 business days from receipt of its notices to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or appeal the notices by submitting a summary of the agency’s position on the unresolved issues to OSHA’s regional administrator.
Former Navajo Nation employee sentenced for federal program fraud
Relda Martinez, 57, of Prewitt, New Mexico, was sentenced in federal court on Feb. 10 to five years of probation and 50 hours of community service for federal program fraud. Martinez pleaded guilty on July 14, 2021.
A federal grand jury indicted Martinez on Oct. 16, 2020. According to the indictment and other court records, from 2014 through 2016, Martinez was employed as the Community Service Coordinator at the White Horse Lake Chapter House (WHLCH) on the Navajo Nation, which afforded her access to the WHLCH financial accounting system. Martinez used her access to issue numerous checks to other parties ostensibly as payments for legitimate work, but were issued in amounts greater than the actual cost of the work or for work that was not performed. Martinez admitted that the money went to herself, her family members and her friends.
Among the checks issued by Martinez were 12 checks issued to a person identified in court records as “A.K.” Martinez listed the purpose of the checks as for archeological surveys, which are required for any land development on the Navajo Nation. However, Martinez knew that A.K. was not a licensed archeologist and that A.K. did not perform any surveys.
“IRS Criminal Investigation, along with our law enforcement partners, will vigorously pursue individuals who take advantage of their positions and misappropriate government funds for their own financial gain,” said Andy Tsui, Special Agent in Charge IRS Criminal Investigation Denver Field Office. “We remain firm in our commitment to promote honest and ethical financial operations at all levels, and to prosecute those who violate the public’s trust.”
“We hope this prosecution and sentencing will serve as a deterrent to others contemplating stealing federal funds for their own personal gain,” said Jamie DePaepe, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Department of the Interior Office of Inspector General’s Western Region. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate individuals who violate the public’s trust and bring them to justice.”
In addition to her probation and community service, Martinez must pay $26,885.55 in restitution, either in full immediately or in monthly installments of $250.00 or 10 percent of her monthly income, whichever is greater.
The IRS Criminal Investigation Durango Office and the Department of the Interior Office of the Inspector General investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan Gerson prosecuted the case.
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