U.S. Indicts 3 Scientists in Fatal ’94 Explosion

Three scientists involved in the 1994 rocket fuel explosion that killed two workers at a field laboratory near Chatsworth were indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on four counts of violating U.S. environmental laws, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

The men were all employed by Rockwell International Corp.’s Rocketdyne Division, which was sold in 1996 to Seattle-based Boeing Co.

Among those charged in the Los Angeles grand jury indictment is Joseph E. Flanagan, 58, a former director of Rocketdyne’s chemical technology group, who is now retired in Stanwood, Wash.

Also facing charges are James F. Weber, 49, of Moorpark and Edgar R. Wilson, 62, of Simi Valley, who are still employed by Rocketdyne.

The men were charged in court documents with illegally storing and burning explosive waste without a permit in violation of the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

The indictment alleges that the violations occurred over a 2 1/2-month period in 1994, when the scientists worked at Rocketdyne’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory in the mountains between Chatsworth and Simi Valley.

Federal prosecutors said the violations led to the July 26, 1994, explosion that killed physicists Otto K. Heiney and Larry A. Pugh.

If convicted, each faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

“Corporations can only act through their individual employees,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. Joseph Johns, one of two prosecutors handling the case. “So it is the rule rather than exception for us to identify and prosecute the individuals responsible for such criminal activity.”

Initially, Rocketdyne executives said Heiney and Pugh were conducting a scientific experiment involving the mixture of chemicals.

But authorities later concluded that the scientific research cited by company officials was a cover for criminal actions, including illegal destruction of explosive wastes.

In 1996, Rockwell pleaded guilty in federal court to three felony counts of mishandling hazardous chemicals and agreed to pay the U.S. government $6.5 million in fines for the 1994 explosion.

The plea agreement granted Rockwell immunity from federal charges of illegal handling, disposal, storage or transportation of hazardous waste that occurred since 1991. Boeing was not accused of any wrongdoing.

The immunity deal with Rockwell did not shield individual employees from prosecution, paving the way for the indictments handed down Wednesday.

Lawyers for the defendants accused the government of trying to find scapegoats for a tragic accident.

“After dragging its feet for nearly five years, the government compounded the trauma by indicting the co-workers and friends of the two men who died while conducting the experiments,” said a statement issued by Weber’s defense attorneys, James R. Asperger and Mark Holscher. “Like the other defense lawyers in the case, we intend to vindicate our client.”

Attorneys for the other defendants also said their clients were not guilty.

Rocketdyne spokesman Dan Beck said Wednesday the company would reserve judgment until the case was heard in federal court.

“Now is not the time to speculate on the merits of the government’s case,” Beck said. “Since the accident we’ve taken a number of actions to increase safety for our employees.”