Sends letter to incoming head of the Wackenhut Corporation
WASHINGTON, DC- In response to a letter written by former Wackenhut CEO Gary Sanders, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) today sent a letter to the incoming head of operations at the Wackenhut Corporation, Grahame Gibson, reiterating his concerns over security lapses at Peach Bottom Atomic Power station in York County. Senator Casey’s correspondence seeks to clarify issues surrounding the security lapses at Peach Bottom and stresses his concern for the safety and peace of mind of his constituents that live around the power station.
“The corporate leaders of Wackenhut cannot divorce themselves from their duty to the people living around Peach Bottom, their responsibility to their employees, or their oversight of on-site management,” the letter said. “Attributing the problem to outside influences and former disgruntled employees seems a way to place blame and avoid taking full responsibility for the incident and any personnel matters that contributed to it.”
In 2007, reports surfaced that guards were caught sleeping while on security duty at the Peach Bottom nuclear plant. The Wackenhut Corporation was under contract, by Exelon the company who owns Peach Bottom to provide security for the power station. According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s report on the incident, the Wackenhut Corporation management was made aware of problems with inattentive guards and told the employee who divulged the lax security to keep quiet.
On December 14th, Senator Casey expressed his concerns and sent a letter to Gary Sanders demanding more information about the incidents involving inattentive security guards at Peach Bottom. In the letter, Senator Casey also inquired as to what the company planned to do to ensure similar incidents would not occur again at Peach Bottom or any other power plant where Wackenhut provided security.
That same day, Exelon terminated its contract with the Wackenhut Corporation, which provided security under contract to all of Exelon’s power plants in Pennsylvania. Earlier this month, Senator Casey received a response from Sanders but before Senator Casey could respond to Sanders, he left the company.
Last week, Senator Casey joined Arlen Specter (R-PA) in sending a letter to the Committee on Environment and Public Works requesting the committee hold a field hearing in Pennsylvania to examine the security lapses at Peach Bottom.
Full text of the letter is below:
Dear Mr. Gibson:
On December 14, 2007, I sent a letter to Mr. Gary Sanders, who was then the CEO of the Wackenhut Corporation, regarding the security incident at Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station in York County, Pennsylvania. I had planned to follow up with Mr. Sanders, but his recent departure from Wackenhut leads me to turn to you as the incoming head of Wackenhut operations.
In summary, I wrote to Mr. Sanders to learn what Wackenhut’s corporate management was doing as a result of the Nuclear Regulator Commission (NRC) Augmented Inspection Team’s finding that, among other things, two Wackenhut employees “indicated that on-shift supervisors…were provided with information regarding inattentive SOs. Two supervisors took no action when notified and one supervisor discouraged bringing forward safety concerns.” That is, Wackenhut supervisors at the Peach Bottom plant were told that guards were sleeping while on duty in the ready room but did not take appropriate action and told their subordinates not to pursue the matter.
While I appreciate Mr. Sanders’ effort to answer the specific questions I asked in my letter, I continue to have grave concerns about the overall tone of his response. I believe that splitting hairs between Wackenhut management on-site and Wackenhut corporate management is a deliberate attempt to evade responsibility on the part of those running the company and detracts from the bigger issue at hand: effective response to a serious incident and prevention of future incidents at all Wackenhut secured nuclear power plants.
The corporate leaders of Wackenhut cannot divorce themselves from their duty to the people living around Peach Bottom, their responsibility to their employees, or their oversight of on-site management. Attributing the problem to outside influences and former disgruntled employees seems a way to place blame and avoid taking full responsibility for the incident and any personnel matters that contributed to it.
The bottom line is that my utmost concern is for the safety and peace of mind of my constituents who live around Peach Bottom and all of our nation’s nuclear plants. I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you and Mr. Eric Wilson, the President of Wackenhut Nuclear Services, to discuss Wackenhut’s plans moving forward.
For your convenience, I have attached copies of my correspondence with Mr. Sanders and I have copied Mr. Wilson on this letter. I look forward to working with you and Mr. Wilson on the important issue of nuclear security.
Sincerely,
Robert P. Casey, Jr.
United States Senator
Cc: Mr. Eric Wilson, President of Wackenhut Nuclear Services
For a copy of the letter written by the former CEO of Wackenhut Gary Sanders, please go here: http://casey.senate.gov/Wackenhut121807.pdf
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