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Update On How To Help Jack Spadaro
On The Day After Tomorrow, Help Us With “The Day After Tomorrow”
Calling All Treehuggers’-Silent Auction Items Sought
(For background on Jack Spadaro’s saga after his whistle-blowing on a government coverup of a disaster at a mountaintop removal, as well as his agency’s procurement violations read this Audubon article.
Whistleblower and coal sludge impoundment expert Jack Spadaro has received another stay of a pending demotion. The Office of Special Counsel ordered the stay, effective for a few more weeks, as it continues its investigation of Jack’s case. The stay means Jack does not yet have to report to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) office in Pittsburgh, PA. Reporting there would be a demotion for Jack, whom MSHA, in apparent retaliation for his whistle-blowing on the agency, forced onto “administrative leave” from his position as the superintendent of the National Mine Safety and Health Academy in Beckley, WV.
As part of its investigation, the Office of Special Counsel is interviewing MSHA employees familiar with Jack’s situation. The Special Counsel has allowed Department of Labor (DOL, which oversees MSHA) attorneys to be present during these interviews. Some of the MSHA employees interviewed say they felt intimidated by the presence of the DOL attorneys. After all, those lawyers report to the employees’ ultimate boss, Elaine Chao, head of DOL. One of the DOL lawyers sitting in on the employee interviews is a man who allegedly participated in devising a scheme to punish Jack because for his whistle-blowing. Retaliating against someone who blows the whistle on unethical or illegal behavior within a federal agency is illegal.
Meanwhile, the DOL’s Inspector General has completed a report that confirms all the charges Jack made about the no-bid contracts awarded to close friends of top officials at MSHA. DOL chief Elaine Chao has been briefed, but she apparently will hold up release of the report until Congress’ August recess. Seems that Chao, who is the wife of Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, wants as few politicians as possible to notice that the report upholds all the charges Jack made against MSHA. As a result of the report, it’s likely that two top managers at MSHA will be fired, but they are not the political appointees who are most responsible for the egregious transgressions that Jack reported to the Inspector General.
HOW TO HELP JACK
Please contact West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd and ask him to insist that Elaine Chao release the Inspector General’s full, un-redacted report on Jack Spadaro’s allegations NOW. Ask him to insist that the Office of Special Counsel conduct its interviews on Spadaro’s case WITHOUT Department of Labor attorneys present, as these attorneys apparently have been intimidating to witnesses. Contact Senator Byrd by e-mailing him. Please also share your e-mail with Rep. George Miller George.Miller@mail.house.gov and Rep. Major Owens, major.owens@mail.house.gov.
These two Reps., along with Rep. Robert Andrews, (202) 225 – 6501, as members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, have taken an interest in what is happening to Jack. They wrote to Elaine Chao: "Obviously, Mr. Spadaro's status as a whistleblower -- questioning the conduct of the Martin County Coal (where the sludge impoundment disaster occurred) investigation and the Department's use of no-bid contracts with friends and associates of Department officials -- raises a very serious concern about the nature of the current disciplinary investigation against him. It is incumbent upon the Committee to ensure that whistleblowers such as Mr. Spadaro are afforded fair treatment and the full protection of the law in employment matters."
Keep up the good work for Jack. Without public outcry, Jack may already well have been fired – for doing a good and honest job protecting coal miners and coalfield residents.
WE NEED YOUR HELP THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW (May 28)
Please e-mail vivian@ohvec.org if you would like to help OVEC hand out fliers on Friday May 28 as people exit from “The Day After Tomorrow,” a Hollywood flick about global warming disaster. While the abrupt climate change scenario in the movie is far-fetched, global warming is real. OVEC and WV Interfaith Global Climate Change Campaign members are going to stand outside theatres in Charleston, WV and Huntington, WV on Friday evening (May 28) to distribute fliers to people who have just seen the movie. We’ll also be talking about mountaintop removal, since communities are being destroyed NOW by this ecocidal form of coal mining.
Check out more about the movie and actions taking place around the nation by visiting: www.moveon.org/news/dayafter.html.
Also see:
www.ems.org/index.html
http://www.undoit.org/whatsnew_spot_dat.cfm
www.climatecrisis.org/
CALLING ALL TREEHUGGERS’-SILENT AUCTION ITEMS SOUGHT
June 4 is OVEC’s 15th annual Treehuggers' Ball! We’ll have a silent auction this year. If you have goods or services to donate for the auction, please contact Abe at the office, 304-522-0246 or abe@ohvec.org.
The Treehuggers’ Ball begins at 9:30 p.m. at the Calamity Café - located on the corner of 3rd Ave. & Hal Greer Blvd., Huntington WV. Good news! Huntington has banned smoking in restaurants, so this year you won’t have to breathe cigarette smoke in order to support OVEC. Musicians this year include Paige Dalporto and Big Rick and the CandyAss Mountain Boys. We’ll have our 2004 edition of the Treehuggers Ball T-shirts on sale. We sure hope to see you there!
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