Attorney General William Sorrell announced today that, barring the receipt of additional evidence, his office has completed its criminal investigation and neither Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee (ENVY) nor any of its current or past employees will be charged with having committed perjury when state officials and others were repeatedly misled about the existence of underground piping carrying radionuclides.
During January of 2010, discovery of a tritium leak at its plant in Vernon prompted ENVY to inform state officials that during sworn testimony and through other communications in 2008 and 2009, it had provided incorrect information when it denied the existence of underground piping carrying radioactive materials. Then-Governor Jim Douglas, then-President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin and Speaker Shap Smith requested the Attorney General to investigate and determine whether in providing this incorrect information, ENVY or its personnel had violated Vermont’s criminal laws.
After a lengthy investigation, including the conducting of dozens of interviews and reviewing tens of thousands of pages of documents, the Attorney General announced that his office lacks sufficient probative evidence to prove perjury beyond a reasonable doubt.
‘Clearly, Vermont Yankee personnel repeatedly failed to meet a minimally acceptable standard of credibility and trustworthiness, but proving that perjury took place is another matter entirely. We lack the smoking gun necessary to prove the crime and it would be unethical and irresponsible for us to press criminal charges when we do not have the evidence to meet our heavy burden of proof,’ said the Attorney General.
A statement issued from Entergy Vermont Yankee shortly after the 11 am annoncement stated: "We take our responsibility to deal openly and honestly with stakeholders very seriously. Some employees failed to live up to our highest expectations and values, and after our own internal investigations, we took disciplinary action against them over a year ago.
"As the Attorney General himself stated, we cooperated fully during his investigation, providing tens of thousands of pages of documents and full access to all relevant information and employees.
"We are pleased that the Attorney General’s active investigation is now concluded."
Meanwhile, Governor Shumlin said in a statement: ‘I know that the Attorney General’s office worked very hard on this complicated investigation into whether Entergy Louisiana officials broke the law when they misled state officials regarding leaking underground piping at Vermont Yankee. I respect the Attorney General’s conclusion. However, the facts are not altered by this legal analysis. The fact is that Entergy Louisiana officials said - under oath - that there were no underground pipes when there were. The fact is that radioactive tritium leaked from these undisclosed underground pipes. We expect our businesses to act in a credible and trustworthy manner. Although the Attorney General has decided not to pursue charges here, his investigation clearly describes the pattern of misinformation by Entergy Louisiana. These facts and others lead to the conclusion that Entergy Louisiana's business-as’usual is not how we expect businesses to act here in Vermont.’
Much of the investigation involved testimony from Entergy VP of Nuclear Operations Jay Thayer, who was Entergy's former site VP in Vermont, Vermont Yankee Site Vce President Michael Colomb and an affidavit signed by James Rogers, Manager of Design Engineering.
The report from Sorrell said that it could not be shown that officials "knowingly and willingly entered into a plan to provide false sworn testimony and such testimony was presented on behalf of the corporation."
Sorrell noted that there were also issues of semantics involved, including what was considered "underground" versus "below grade" and whether "buried" meant piping that is underground and directly in contact with soil (the pipes that leaked the tritium in question were in concrete trenches). The attorney general also had to consider whether everyone was talking about pipes carrying liquids or gases.
Thayer was subsequently removed from his position by Entergy and other personnel were shuffled within the corporation or had duties changed at Vermont Yankee.
The decision was announced today at a Montpelier press conference. A report (click here for PDF, the first nine pages can be found below) summarizing some of the evidence reviewed and aspects of the applicable law was released.