The Office of Special Counsel has credited an Army employee for making disclosures, since proven out by an investigation, of environmental risks at the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armament Command, Red River Army Depot in Texas.
The whistleblower “alleged that employees violated Sections 608 and 609 of the Clean Air Act by: releasing the air conditioning refrigerant hydrochlorofluorocarbon-134a (HFC-134a) into the environment when working on motor vehicle air conditioners (MVACs); not properly maintaining the equipment used to evacuate HFC-134a from MVACs; failing to train and certify employees working on MVACs; and not keeping records about the MVAC recovery equipment or employee training and certification as required by the Clean Air Act and its regulations,” an announcement said.
“The investigation found that two government contractors—neither of whom received training or certification on the evacuation process or the recovery equipment used— intentionally released HFC-134a into the air during the MVAC upgrade. The investigation also found that RRAD had not maintained the equipment used to evacuate the refrigerant,” it said.
It said that as result, RRAD stopped all motor vehicle refrigerant operations until a number of corrective actions were carried out.
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