House Panel Probes Rockwell Plea-Bargain Deal

A U.S. House subcommittee has subpoenaed FBI agents and documents in Rockwell International’s plea-bargaining over environmental crimes at the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant.

The House subcommittee on investigations and oversight issued subpoenas Thursday giving five Denver-based FBI agents two weeks to testify about the 2 1/2-year investigation of Rocky Flats.

In addition, U.S. Atty. Mike Norton has agreed to be interviewed and investigators also plan to speak with Ken Fimberg, the case’s lead prosecutor, congressional staffers said.

Norton refused to comment, and there was no immediate comment from Fimberg, who was on vacation.

Rockwell, which operated Rocky Flats for more than a decade until 1989, pleaded guilty in June to five felony counts of illegal treatment and storage of hazardous waste and five misdemeanor counts of violating the Clean Water Act. It agreed to pay an $18.5 million fine.

Rep. Howard Wolpe (D-Mich.) the subcommittee chairman, said he is concerned about several aspects of the plea agreement.

Those concerns include the lack of penalties against the Energy Department, which directed Rockwell’s operations; worries that prosecutors might have been more lenient with Rockwell because the government was relying on the giant defense contractor for other federal work, and the government’s decision not to prosecute Rockwell for any other violations uncovered at Rocky Flats.

“The real issue is whether or not the government’s interest was being protected over the public’s interest,” Wolpe said.

He said the congressional investigation was launched after “people within Colorado” told the subcommittee of possible shortcomings in the Rocky Flats settlement. Wolpe refused to identify the sources, but said they were not members of Congress.

The FBI agents subpoenaed were among the 75 agents who worked on the Rocky Flats case, which began in June, 1989, with a federal raid on the plant to seize documents.

The Rocky Flats plant, located 16 miles northwest of Denver, manufactured plutonium triggers for nuclear weapons.