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National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Office of Inspector General
Washington, D.C. 20546

February 10, 2003

RELEASE 2003-019: FORMER ROCKETDYNE EMPLOYEE SENTENCED FOR ROLE IN 
FATAL 1994 EXPLOSION

On January 27, 2003, Joseph E. Flanagan was sentenced in United States
District Court, Riverside, California, to one year of probation and 
fined $5,000 for his involvement in a 1994 laboratory explosion that 
killed two scientists at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL).  
The SSFL is a facility formerly operated by Rockwell International 
Corporation, Rocketdyne Division.

On April 28, 1999, Flanagan and two other scientists at Rocketdyne 
were indicted by a Federal Grand Jury for illegally storing and 
disposing of hazardous waste without the permit required by the 
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.  Flanagan pled guilty on June 
3, 2002, to two misdemeanor counts of unlawfully storing explosive 
materials. James Weber was sentenced in September 2002, and Edgar 
Wilson, the third scientist indicted, is awaiting trial.

This investigation was conducted by Special Agents of the NASA Office 
of Inspector General's Office of Investigations, the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Naval 
Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. Air Force Office of Special 
Investigations, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  Other 
agencies involved in the investigation included the California 
Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Occupation Safety and 
Health, Bureau of Investigations; Department of Toxic Substances 
Control; the Ventura County District Attorney's Office; the Ventura 
County Fire Department; the Ventura County Sheriff's Department; the 
Ventura County Environmental Health Department; and the Ventura County 
Air Pollution Control District.  Assistant United States Attorney 
William Carter, Central District of California, handled the 
prosecution.

For more information on this release, please contact Paul Shawcross, 
Executive Officer, NASA Office of Inspector General at (202) 358-2558.

Previous Releases:  
2002-94 September 30, 2002, Former Contractor Employee Sentenced for 
Unlawfully Storing Explosive Materials;
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/oig/hq/press/pr2002-094.html
1999-029, April 30, 1999, Three Scientists Employed at Rocketdyne 
Testing Facility Indicted.

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