MAN’S CLAIM OF BURIED PLUTONIUM DISMISSED

November 29,2001

Section: METRO

Page: Al

Bob Downing, Beacon Journal staff writer

The story could have been straight from The X-Files:

Three, giant, stainless-steel "eggs," filled with highly radioactive plutonium-238 were dumped at the 30-acre Industrial Excess

Landfill by the U.S. Army more than 30 years ago. The containers were 3 feet long, 6 feet wide and 8 inches thick. Each had 16 circular doors. Each may have each weighed up to 6 tons. And the person who told that story - one4ime landfill owner-operator Charles Kittinger - eventually concluded that the eggs were nuclear bombs.

Kittinger's story triggered an eight-month secret investigation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Justice Department.

Yesterday, the EPA released a 126-page report on that investigation saying that Kittinger's account was "not credible."

The EPA stood by its conclusion that radiation is not a problem at the now-closed dump off Cleveland Avenue Northwest.

U.S. District Judge John Manos, who ordered the EPA to investigate Kittinger's claim, which was made in February, concurred in a separate 24-page legal opinion, also released yesterday.

The Cleveland-based judge concluded that the "allegations regarding the presence of stainless steel eggs containing 238 (the plutonium) at IEL are not credible and that no further investigation or proceedings are warranted as to such allegations."

The judge said Kittinger's recollection appeared to have been tainted by recent news reports.

"He came forward only after he saw television news reports about rumors of plutonium at IEL..... .. These reports caused him to conclude that the alleged eggs were potentially suspect," the judge wrote.

The federal investigation was conducted under an order issued by Manos that kept the entire matter secret, including the EPA's Aug.13 final report. That order was lifted yesterday.

Kittinger could not be reached for comment yesterday on the federal filings.

The Lake Township trustees, in a prepared statement, expressed gratitude for the federal investigation. They said they look forward to developing a final federal cleanup plan for the toxic-waste dump.

U.S. Rep. Tom Sawyer, D-Akron, was relieved by the finding.

"I am comforted from the finding that the fears expressed are unverifiable and unlikely to be grounded in fact," Sawyer said.

SOME SUPPORTERS

One person who believed Kittinger's story was Chris Borello of the Concerned Citizens of Lake Township, a grassroots group fighting for a more extensive landfill cleanup.

She questioned what Kittinger had to gain from telling his account and said in 1983 Kittinger admitted that toxic chemicals went into the dump, at a time when others denied that had happened.

Borello was aghast, angry and upset by the federal decisions on Kittinger's story.

She said she was "not surprised that the EPA and a federal judge (Manos) were in full denial.... It is part of the ongoing conspiracy and cover-up at IEL."

William Muno, director of the federal Superfund in the EPA's

Chicago regional office, said federal officials remain mystified as to why Kittinger first offered up his story on the mysterious eggs more than 30 years after they would have been buried.

Muno said in his 23 years with the agency he had "never heard a story as bizarre.¹'

And that story changed as Kittinger repeated it to authorities and it could not be confirmed, Muno said.

Still, the EPA felt compelled to thoroughly investigate the account, he said.

Plutonium-238, which is not used in nuclear weapons, is used in space for intense heat generation. Other forms of plutonium are used in nuclear weapons.

Manos and the EPA ruled out searching for the eggs by excavating the landfill because of the danger involved.

Kittinger was questioned about the operation of the dump last December and January by federal officials but did not offer his story until February. He first told the story to the attorney for Goodyear, Bridgestone-Firestone, B.F. Goodrich and GenCorp, the companies being held liable for the dump cleanup.

He told federal officials that he had been conducting his own research on nuclear weapons. He also said he had seen a report on WKYC-TV on possible radiation at the Uniontown dump.

Kittinger provided authorities with a list of witnesses, including his wife and son, who he said would be able to back up his story.

EX-OWNER'S ACCOUNT

In interviews with federal officials and in a sworn court deposition before Manos, Kittinger said that the eggs were unloaded and buried in a 25-foot-deep hole next to junked cars in the landfill's northwest corner.

Though the eggs arrived at the dump in unmarked stake-bed trucks, accompanied by two cars, Kittinger said he believed the Army was responsible for the shipments.

He said he was instructed to bury the eggs as deep as possible and to cover them right away so no one could see them. He was further instructed never to touch the eggs or mention them to anyone.

Kittinger said he was told the eggs contained plutonium-238 would be dangerous if disturbed.

He said he was also told by persons delivering the first egg that "you don't want to fool with them because they still got live cores."

According to Kittinger's account, the eggs were brough4 to the landfill during a one-day or two-day period in the late 1960s or early 1970s.

The metal eggs were cool to the touch, Kittinger said, adding that he opened one of the doors on an egg and looked inside, where he saw a cylindrical core from 12 to 14 inches in diameter and up to 8 feet long.

He testified that an unidentified man approached him years later and showed him alleged infrared photographs that showed the eggs buried in the dump.

"We don't find Mr. Kittinger¹s allegations to be credible," Muno said yesterday. "There are a lot of holes in his particular story."

The EPA conducted a thorough review of disposal practices and records of the U.S. Army, the Ohio National Guard, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Ravenna Army Ammunition Plant, he said.

The EPA also conducted special magnetic and electric resistance testing of the landfill, both of which came back negative, officials said.

The technology for infrared photography did not exist at the time that Kittinger said the mystery man showed his photos, federal officials said.

Details of Kittinger's story kept changing. He told authorities the dumping occurred in the summer. Later he said it was the winter. The spot where the eggs were dumped kept moving.

The metal would have been glowing red-hot, if the eggs had contained plutonium, federal officials said.

Kittinger's witnesses were unable to back up his story, federal officials said.

SON CAN'T BACK UP STORY

Son Christopher, in a sworn deposition, recalled military personnel coming to the dump, but said he was unable to see what was buried. The son never reported seeing any eggs.

Kittinger's wife, Merle, and Lula Boniphant, a clerk at the dump, were both unable to confirm Kittinger's account.

Muno said the EPA is very confident that no radioactive materials went into the dump in such eggs.

He said the EPA was unable to say how much the extensive investigation into Kittinger’s allegations had cost.

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In response to this article I must state that the EPA initiated the landfill. The EPA has a conflict of interest. We are talking more dollars to clean up the mess.

Why was all this investigation done in secret?

“judge” Manos would conclude that Charlie is a liar.

John Manos should have ordered an impartial investigation. He said Charlie’s story is not credible, yet most people I’ve talked to see no reason why Charlie would lie.

Charlie stated in his suit the reason he was coming forward was he knew about the capsules and he is running out of time. Charlie is in his seventies, but young and alert in his mind.

Manos knew Charlie was telling the truth because he stated the reason Charlie came forward was because of the rumors of the plutonium at IEL. They caused Charlie to conclude. If Charlie had no awareness of the eggs, he would not have suspected the eggs were the cause of the leakage. Manos said that’s what probably motivated Charlie. (Probable cause) That is an admission that he believed Charlie. John Manos is a liar.

Later in the article they made a big deal out of Charlie’s recollection. What would anyone of us recollect thirty some years after the fact?

This landfill was a mistake from the start, yet no one wants to face the mistakes. Lies don’t change the facts.

Tom Sawyer (Senator) statement means nothing. The citizens group tried to confront him with the facts a while ago but he refused to meet and listen to their position. Tom is all show and no substance. Another self exalter not a public servant.