The Nation - News from Feb. 20, 1989

The Department of Energy is being so secretive about its uranium processing plant in Fernald, Ohio, that federal investigations and cleanup efforts have been hampered, a newspaper reported. Investigators from the Environmental Protection Agency and staffs of Senate and House members have complained of heavy secrecy by the department, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. “The problem with these people (at the Energy Department) . . . is that they think Harry Truman is still President and the Cold War is still going on,” an unidentified Senate staff member was quoted as saying. Among the difficulties investigators encountered was denial of access by the Energy Department to documents, which were then provided to Cincinnati lawyers suing the plant’s former operator, NLO Inc., for $300 million.