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POWERS HONORED
T
he late Georgia Davis Powers, the first African-American in the Kentucky Senate,
was honored on the last day of the General Assembly when a state worker installed
a plaque on her desk on the floor. She is the first woman and first African-Amer-
ican to be honored this way. We all understand the grace that resided in this individual,
what she did, her accomplishments for all people, said Sen. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville, who
succeeded her. Above, her brother Phillip Montgomery holds the plaque, with Lawrence
Montgomery, another brother, and Violet Montgomery, Lawrence Montgomerys wife.
Stevens is suspended amid ethics inquiry
Judge to be paid as panel considers misconduct charges
siders misconduct charges against him.
Stevens and the Judicial Conduct
Commission reached an agreement Fri-
Matt Glowicki day in which Stevens agreed to a paid sus-
Courts & crime pension until the resolution of the case.
@mattglo Judge Stevens determined that it was
in the best interest of all of the parties and
the community to enter into this agree-
Louisville Circuit Court Judge Olu Ste- ment, said one of Stevens attorneys Lar-
vens has been suspended from the bench ry Wilder in a statement. Now we can all
as a state judicial disciplinary body con- focus on the issues at hand regarding the
Benefind called costly experiment
Delays in launch cost state
an additional $7 million
Deborah Yetter
Social Services
@d_yetter
FRANKFORT, Ky. - A new public bene-
fit system, envisioned as an innovative,
one-stop shop for aid from programs such
as Medicaid and food stamps, instead is
PAT MCDONOGH/THE COURIER-JOURNAL turning into a flawed and costly experi-
Vickie Yates Brown Glisson testifies before ment for Kentucky the first state to at-
the Senate Health and Welfare committee. tempt to launch such a project, according
courier-journal.com facebook.com/courierjournal
INDEX Comics 6D Editorial 13A Lottery 2A Sports 1C
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THE GILKEY DIFFERENCE
KY DLY
Custom built. Expertly crafted. Made to last.
502-542-6136
Home 1D
Ky. slow to
act on waste
dumping
Radioactive shipments
are focus of concern
James Bruggers
Environment
@jbruggers
The tip arrived in a phone call from a
West Virginia bureaucrat to a staffer in
the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and
Family Services radioactive oil-and-
gas drilling waste was headed our way.
Kentucky Energy and Environment
Cabinet officials were notified that same
day, July 21, 2015, according to emails ob-
tained by the Courier-Journal under
West Virginias open records law.
But it took the Energy Cabinet seven
months to alert Kentucky landfill opera-
tors to be on the lookout for illegal ship-
ments of radioactive drilling waste and
that they should not accept any it.
JOE GERTH/THE COURIER-JOURNAL The Health Cab-
inet waited another The Energy
three weeks un- Cabinet took
til March 4, two seven months to
days after the Cou- alert landfill
rier-Journal first operators to be
reported the on the lookout
dumping to for illegal
order the company shipments.
alleged to have qui-
etly brought the waste into Kentucky to
stop, and for landfills to stop accepting it.
By then, from July through Novem-
ber, state officials claim, more than 1,000
cubic yards of the waste from fracking
operations in Ohio, Pennsylvania and
West Virginia had made its way to Blue
Ridge Landfill in Estill County, hauled in
by Advanced TENORM Services of West
Liberty, the records show.
There, state officials feared that land-
First Amendment and the alleged mis- fill workers, customers and maybe stu-
conduct. dents at two nearby schools, might have
A hearing had been set for Tuesday to been exposed to dangerous levels of ra-
determine if Stevens should be tempora- diation, the emails show. Later, state offi-
rily pulled from the bench. cials found out, even more radioactive
The commissions chair, Steve Wolnit- waste had also been sent to the Green
zek, said the body is meeting next week to Valley Landfill in Greenup County,
schedule a hearing ideally within 60 to though theyve said it wasnt as hot as
90 days at which the misconduct allega- the concentrated waste sent to the Estill
tions will be heard. dump.
Stevens and his counsel will be able to The emails from West Virginia shed
See STEVENS, Page 10A See WASTE, Page 10A
to the states top human services official.
They bought into something that no
was launched Feb. 29 under Gov. Matt
Bevin, who took office Dec. 8. The delay,
other state had ever done, Vickie Yates
Glisson, secretary of the Cabinet for
Glisson said, was mainly to avoid conflict
with open enrollment for health coverage
Health and Family Services, told legisla- through kynect, the state health insurance
tors, referring to the Beshear administra- exchange.
tion. I dont understand why Kentucky But Glisson discovered that under the
does this sometimes. contract, the state must pay Deloitte $3.5
Speaking before a legislative commit- million a month for any delays.
tee, Glisson also said that a two-month de- The fact that we waited two months
lay in launching the system known as ben- cost us $7 million, Glisson said. I would
Freezing Freezing Ice
efind has already cost the state $7 million say the previous administration
rain pretty
rain
in additional payments to Deloitte Con- much tied anybodys hands from doing
sulting, the company that built benefind anything but being able to go forward.
under a contract struck by the administra- The human cost also has been signifi-
tion of former Gov. Steve Beshear. cant as state officials struggle to fix mas-
Originally scheduled to launch Dec. 28, Chance of Chance
Chance of Snow
Chance
the $101 million benefind system instead See BENEFIND, Page 7A
light snow of snow
light snow of flurries
snow
@courierjournal WEATHER, 2A
Louisville area 36-hour forecast:
Were in for a bright, sunny week-
USAToday 1B end in Louisville. Expect clear skies TODAY
Sunny TOMORROW
Sunny
Fair Fair
Haze
and temperatures in the upper 70s. 78 | 52 80 | 54
&
Many Financing
Options Partly
sunny
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Available.
Cannot be combined with any previous sale and quotes. Not valid with any other offers or discounts. OFFER EXPIRES IN TWO WEEKS
CJ-0000403499
Drizzle Chance of
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showers
10A Saturday, April 16, 2016 The Courier-Journal
Waste
Continued from Page 1A
new light on how Ken-
tucky regulators first
learned of the dumping.
They provide a window
into how they eventually
responded, and their level
of concern which was
significant. They show a
months-long gap between
the first warning of a po-
tential problem, and the
eventual regulatory ac-
tion by Kentucky agen-
cies charged with safe-
guarding the public.
Its not a matter of
blame, said Louisville at-
torney Tom FitzGerald,
director of the Kentucky
Resources Council, which
has also been looking into
the dumping. Its a mat-
ter that the process is ob-
viously broken. The agen-
cies were not effectively
communicating, and the
bottom line is you have a
bunch of exposed work-
ers.
When asked about the
lack of a response in July,
agency officials now point
fingers at each other.
In a written statement
from spokesman Doug
Hogan, Health Cabinet of-
ficials said they respon-
ded to that July 21 call by
telling West Virginia offi-
cials that the waste was
not allowed in Kentucky,
and then informing Ener-
gy Cabinet officials so
that they could take action
as needed, as this particu-
lar issue related to their
landfill licensees.
Only after a detailed in-
vestigation starting in
January, Hogan said, did
the Health Cabinet have
the legal authority to is-
sue cease and desist let-
ters to Advanced TEN-
ORM Services and the
two landfills.
For their part, Energy
Cabinet officials reiterat-
ed what theyve said in all
along that its the
Health Cabinet that has
the responsibility for ra-
dioactive wastes through
an agreement with the
state of Illinois.
Should the Division of
Waste Management have
done more? I suppose one
can argue maybe we
should have, Tony Hat-
ton, the divisions direc-
tor, said. I dont know.
But the reality of it is, this
material is managed by
the Cabinet for Health
and Family Services, and
they told the West Vir-
House OKs $48 Real ID drivers licenses
Bill now goes to Gov. Bevin to sign
DEBORAH YETTER
@D_YETTER
FRANKFORT, Ky. - A
bill to create a new Ken-
tucky drivers license to
conform with the federal
Real ID law won final
passage in the House of
Representatives on Friday
and now goes to Gov. Matt
Bevin for his signature.
The new drivers li-
cense would cost $48 and
Stevens
Continued from Page 1A
which the commission
could dismiss the charges
or impose a sanction.
While Stevens is sus-
pended, other Jefferson
Circuit Court judges will
take on his caseload.
The Judicial Conduct
Commission publicly an-
nounced last week it was
charging Stevens with six
counts of misconduct stem-
ming from both an ongoing
public dispute between Ste-
vens and Jefferson Com-
monwealths Attorney Tom
Wine as well as from a Feb-
ruary 2015 sentencing hear-
ing in which Stevens
criticized the parents of a
child who said she was trau-
matized by black men after
a home invasion by black
defendants.
Stevens filed a federal
suit April 1against the com-
#IN#Indiana#
ginia regulators it was
strictly forbidden.
W.Va. didnt
block waste
The Energy Cabinet
has, since January, coor-
dinated its investigation
with the Health Cabinet.
It declined to make its cor-
respondence available,
citing exemptions under
the Kentucky Open Rec-
ords law involving ongo-
ing investigations.
That correspondence
from West Virginia puts a
big burden on the Health
Cabinet, FitzGerald said.
Ive not seen any evi-
dence that (the health cab-
inet) told Advanced TEN-
ORM Services that what
they were planning to do
was illegal, he said.
That to me is inexcus-
able.
FitzGerald said the En-
ergy Cabinet also could
have done more early on,
as could have West Vir-
ginia.
West Virginias Bureau
for Public Health does
not regulate where haul-
ers dispose of material
out of state, countered
Toby Wagoner, spokes-
man for that agency. Our
notification to Kentucky
was as a professional
courtesy only.
The emails also show
how Kentucky officials
acknowledged being
handicapped by a lack of
regulations for a type of
waste generated by hy-
drologic fracturing in oil-
and-gas-rich areas north-
east of Kentucky.
For example, Christo-
pher J. Keffer, the radia-
tion health specialist in
the Health Cabinet, took
that first call on July 21
from Jason Frame, a radi-
ation specialist with West
Virginias state radiation
program, alerting Ken-
tucky to the pending ship-
ments of waste.
That same day, Keffer
bumped the matter up the
ladder to Curt Pender-
grass, a radiation health
supervisor, detailing
Frames understanding of
Advanced TENORM Ser-
vices Kentucky dumping
plans and telling Pen-
dergrass he had told
Frame about Kentuckys
lack of regulations for the
waste.
Hours later, Pender-
grass wrote to Frame,
copying three Energy
Cabinet officials one
with an incorrect email
address acknowledg-
ing that Kentucky does
not currently have any
would be good for eight
years compared to the cur-
rent license that costs $20
and is good for four years.
But Rep. Lewis Ni-
cholls, a Greenup Demo-
crat who presented Senate
Bill 245 to House members
Friday, said that Kentuck-
ians who fly often would be
better off getting the new
mission, arguing the group
was seeking to punish his
free speech in violation of
his First and Fourteenth
Amendment rights. A pos-
sible sanction could have a
chilling effect, according to
the suit, silencing judges
who want to speak out
about institutional racism
and other public concerns.
A judge does not check
his First Amendment
rights at the courthouse
door, reads the suit.
Earlier this week, Ste-
vens and his attorneys
sought a restraining order
against the commission,
asking the federal court to
prevent the disciplinary
group from suspending
him, federal court records
show. They argued a sus-
pension would be punitive
and retaliatory and had no
legitimate purpose.
It was also announced
Friday that Stevens attor-
neys from his federal court
lawsuit, Larry Wilder and J.
Bart McMahon, have
Estill County High School is across the road from the Blue Ridge Landfill.
regulations dealing with
the control and disposal of
(radioactive) waste gen-
erated in the oil and gas in-
dustry from hydraulic
fracturing.
Pendergrass, however,
also told Frame that Ken-
tucky does have laws on
the books banning the im-
portation of those waste
materials stemming from
an agreement between
Kentucky and Illinois.
Kentucky eventually
takes action
Eventually, however,
the Energy Cabinet found
a way to issue notices of
violations to the two Ken-
tucky landfills.
Those violation notices
sent March 8 claim the
landfill operators failed to
accurately characterize
the waste for what it was,
allowing whats consid-
ered an illegal release of a
hazardous material into
the environment. They
were also cited for poor
record keeping and other
violations.
For their part, the land-
fills have insisted they
were not informed by any-
one of any illegal radioac-
tive waste shipments.
Health Cabinet assis-
tant counsel Jennifer
Wolsings March 4 letter
made public on March 8
claims BES LLC, doing
business as Advanced
TENORM Services, im-
ported, collected, trans-
ported and/or deposited
radioactive oil and gas
drilling waste in several
Kentucky counties since
at least June 2015. The
drivers license that re-
quires additional docu-
mentation.
This is a good bill, Ni-
choll said. It protects the
homeland.
After January 2018, un-
der the federal law, anyone
on a domestic flight with-
out one of the new drivers
licenses would have to pre-
sent a U.S. passport as well
as a drivers license. A
passport costs $135 and
takes up to six weeks to ob-
tain.
joined attorney Kimberly
Bunton and Baltimore at-
torney Jon Wyndal Gordon
in representing the judge
before the disciplinary
body.
The misconduct allega-
tions Stevens now faces
originate from his com-
ments that the commission
argues violated various
parts of the states judicial
conduct code.
Specifically, the com-
mission said, Stevens broke
ethical rules instructing
judges to not show bias or
prejudice, to refrain from
commenting on pending or
impending court proceed-
ings and to avoid in their
conduct outside of the
courtroom demeaning the
judiciary or casting doubt
on their ability to be impar-
tial.
Four of the charges are
connected to Stevens so-
cial media or in-person
comments about his dis-
agreement with Wines de-
cision to ask the state Su-
Health Cabinet has
threatened $100,000 per
incident fines, and poten-
tial criminal charges and
sent its order to Cory Hos-
kins of West Liberty.
About two weeks later,
Kentucky Attorney Gen-
eral Andy Beshear said
his office has opened an
investigation.
The Courier-Journal
has been unable to reach
Hoskins. Secretary of
State business records
show he recently worked
with attorney W. Logan
Wilson of Bingham Gree-
nebaum Doll in Lexing-
ton. Wilson did not imme-
diately return a request
for comment.
That first July 21 email
from Keffer to Pender-
grass identified a third lo-
cation where workers
may have been exposed to
the radioactive waste.
State officials have
said West Virginia-based
Fairmont Brine Process-
ing produced the waste in
a method that increased
its radioactive intensity.
Keffers email said it was
to be sent to an unidenti-
fied location in Ashland
where the waste was to be
solidified, before being
sent to Estill County.
Hatton on Thursday
declined to identify the
business, other than to de-
scribe it as the location of
a trucking company, and
that it had been inspected
jointly by his agency and
the Health Cabinet.
The emails show West
Virginias Jason Frame
decided to check back in
with the Health Cabinet
To obtain the new li-
cense, Kentuckians would
have to provide a birth cer-
tificate and two proofs of
residency. Kentucky now
requires these documents
to obtain a license but not
to renew it.
The cost of a regular
drivers license also will in-
crease to $48 under SB 245
and would still be avail-
able.
Nicholls said Kentucky
needs to adopt the measure
to comply with the federal
preme Court if a judge has
the legal power to dismiss a
jury panel if there isnt evi-
dence of systemic or inten-
tional exclusion.
Wine went to the higher
court after Stevens dis-
missed a nearly all-white
jury panel of 41prospective
jurors at the request of a
defense attorney who rep-
resented an African-Amer-
ican defendant.
Stevens said on Face-
book that he dismissed the
jury panel because it was a
substantial departure
from the racial make-up of
the average jury panel and
also accused Wine of being
a racist who supported all-
white juries.
That case is still pending
before the state Supreme
Court. The National Bar As-
sociation, Kentucky Asso-
ciation of Criminal Defense
Attorneys and the NAACP
have filed briefs in support
of Stevens in that matter.
Multiple Facebook posts
authored by Stevens in fall
JAMES BRUGGERS/THE COURIER-JOURNAL
on Jan. 19, telling Pender-
grass the hauler might
still sending waste to Ken-
tucky.
Since then, Hogan said,
the Health Cabinet has Municipal landfills typi-
been actively engaged in a
whirlwind of activities,
including radiological
surveys at the landfills,
schools and trucking com-
panies, along with inter-
views.
The Health Cabinet,
Energy Cabinet and its
West Virginia counter-
parts continue to piece
together details on this
situation, Hogan said.
Official floored
West Virginia did not
provide a response to that
email, but in January and
February, after Hatton
said he said he learned
about the alleged dump-
ing from a new and differ-
ent unidentified tipster,
both cabinets were inves-
tigating, the records
show, and Frame was be-
ing thanked for his assis-
tance.
Sometimes the emails
expressed alarm.
On. Feb. 11, George
Partridge in the waste
management division
wrote to the Health Cab-
inets Pendergrass, warn-
ing that exposure could
eventually give people
cancer. Local and state of-
ficials have since said
there is no current risk to
students at Estill County
High School and Estill
County Middle School
and that they dont believe
there ever was, based on
monitoring this winter.
law passed in 2008, meant
to upgrade security nation-
wide.
If the state fails to pass
the law, Kentuckians could
risk being unable to pre-
sent drivers licenses as a
form of identity to board a
plane and would be re-
quired to obtain a passport,
he said.
Contact reporter Debo-
rah Yetter at 502-582-4228
or at dyetter@courier-jour-
nal.com.
2015 are cited by the com-
mission that both criticized
Wines motives and also dis-
cussed the pending state
Supreme Court case.
Stevens has countered,
saying those comments
were private, not public
speech.
Other misconduct
counts stem from Stevens
in-court and Facebook
statements that criticized a
victim impact statement
written by parents on be-
half of their 3-year-old who
were victims of robbery
and burglary. The parents
wrote that the child was in
constant fear of black men,
the same race of the defen-
dants.
Stevens explained that
action on both Facebook
and in his federal lawsuit
that he would be without
integrity to condone such
language with silence.
Reporter Matthew
Glowicki can be reached at
502-582-4989 or mglow-
icki@courier-journal.com.
But the waste contains
radium 226, with a half-
life of 1,600 years, the
time it takes for half its ra-
dioactivity to decay.
cally have protective lin-
ers guaranteed for 30 or
40 years. West Virginia of-
ficials have said the waste
might have had a radioac-
tive intensity of 1,900 pi-
cocuries per gram, or a
level nearly 400 times as
high as the U.S. Environ-
mental Protection Agen-
cy generally sees as safe.
The emails indicated
West Virginia didnt want
the stuff, and that another
waste hauler had rejected
it as too radioactive.
By the end of January,
Partridge was preparing
for field inspections at the
landfills.
I was so floored with
the news, Partridge
wrote to Frame on Jan. 29,
I want to be sure I con-
firmed the understanding
we have of the situation
before we move forward
with site visits.
Reach reporter James
Bruggers at 502-582-4645.
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Central Music Est. 1954
115 S. Hubbards Ln.
Louisville, KY. 40207
(502) 896-2009
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