Los Alamos: Meth, Classified Docs and Nukes

With the latest incident at Los Alamos National Laboratory--birthplace of the atomic bomb--we wonder: Could you sneak away classified documents like drug dealers sling methamphetamine?  Since a drug bust at a Los Alamos trailer home last week, where authorities also found a Lab flash drive with classified documents in the trailer we are told, you have to ask that question.  A man was arrested for dealing meth and for domestic violence, and there has been a connection to a Los Alamos contractor.

Secretary of Energy Bodman was briefed this morning about the drug raid and was reportedly furious.

The Los Alamos Monitor reported on a methamphetamine drug raid last week which appears to be the initial encounter which led the authorities to conduct the raid on Friday. The Monitor reports that police were “responding to a 4:16 p.m. call from a neighbor alerting them to loud arguing occurring inside the house” when they discovered “pipes and other paraphernalia” and “hazardous meth lab components.” The article includes details about what, who, where of this initial incident.

According to unconfirmed sources, a person who was connected to the drug raid worked for a subcontractor of KSL, a company that provides maintenance for Los Alamos. KSL helpfully lists its subcontractors on their website.

According to the KSL website: “Awarded the Los Alamos National Labs Support Services Contract in 2003, KSL provides services support for the three main contractors at LANL:

--Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc. Government Operations;

--Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure, Inc.;

--and Los Alamos Technical Associates, Inc.

Together, these four companies provide over 75% of the Los Alamos National Labs work force providing multiple services varying from simple custodial workers to nuclear scientists and technicians. With an exemplary safety record and a proven history of success KSL has intertwined itself with Los Alamos National Labs providing a steadfast commitment to supporting partnerships in the economic, academic, and cultural life of the New Mexico region.”

Ironically, the Los Alamos Lab’s public affairs office published a puff piece in August 2004 that quotes KSL Services General Manger Ed Burckle saying “we must never lose sight that the overriding concern during the resumption process is to ensure we have re-examined our procedures for safety, security and compliance and that all employees have been trained and qualified to perform their duties.”

-- Beth Daley

Comments

[cyberd]

First, let me say I was a former employee of (KSL), and I have to tell you it is the worst contractor I have ever worked for. I have worked in Los Alamos since 1981 for 9 different contractors, this one takes the cake! Management by Intimidation is there way of doing business. I was set up, framed if you will for supposedly wrongful computer usage. (Playing games on the internet!!) What a crock, they went on a cost cutting effort accross the Lab because LANS/KSL are in the RED for about 175 MILLION dollars. They all met behind closed doors and decided who would get asked to leave and who would be fired. I was one of the latter. I was one of the higher paid ones who would make a bigger dent in the budget. Here's another example, a Director of a certain group had a son who had just past away, he had just buried his son and they told he was to take a cut in pay, he refused, they fired him. I have seen over the past 4 years blatent disregard for the spending of tax payers dollars at this facilit, Before I left a work order over run report showed jobs were being overran to the tune of 50 million dollars. Hell of a way to run a show!

[Doug Roberts]

This should come as no surprise. If the purportedly "furious" Sam Bodman had seriously wanted to implement changes at Los Alamos, he should not have retained the incumbent contractor (the University of California), as part of the new contracting team, known now as LANS. I'd say that Secretary Bodman got what he paid for: more of the same sloppy management that has become the hallmark of UC's 63 year stewardship of LANL. Under LANS the number of upper-level managers has tripled, but little else of substance appears to have changed.

--Doug