The Latest on HydroVac
Local Opinion by Dean Arnold

July 9, 2001

The feds continue to be mum regarding the Bill Foxworth/HydroVac Wastewater Treatment Facility saga.

However, at one point a staffer with the FBI told an inquirer that Foxworth has indeed been informed of a pending indictment and a number was given corresponding to the document outlining the charges. But that staffer now refuses to divulge any information and says the matter is "sealed."

Environmental whistleblower Ernest Oliver, the man behind the saga, received very favorable coverage from the Outlook newspaper last week in a cover story article entitled "Toxic Injustice." The article named more names then even CFax has mentioned over the past four years. Also, it contained a couple of tidbits I was not aware of -- one was a very funny paragraph about Foxworth being angry with Lab Director Oliver for not having red or green bubbling water in the lab, presumably for him to impress inspectors with.

Also, I was not aware that Alice Ford was named a "Tennessee Hero." Oliver sent a complaint to Ford, who was an investigator with the local Human Rights & Human Relations Board, saying he was improperly fired by Chattanooga State as a chemistry instructor, which he felt was related to his whistleblowing. Ford ruled in Oliver's favor, saying he had "cause" to sue Chattanooga State. But Ford's superiors in Nashville told Ford to change the ruling to "no cause."

Ford refused, and within a day, the state officials shut down the entire Chattanooga Human Rights office and moved Ford to Knoxville. Alice Ford then threatened to sue and stated in an affidavit that her removal was due to her ruling on Oliver and that Senator Ward Crutchfield told her Oliver was "crazy." But before the case went to court, the Chattanooga Human Rights office was reinstated and Mrs. Ford promoted from Investigator to Director of the office. Later, she was named a Tennessee Hero.

This week, Oliver provided CFax photos of what he says are continued violations by Foxworth's dumping station since HydroVac was shut down. (BFI bought Foxworth's dumping permit at Chattanooga Creek near Broad Street and turned it into a "transfer station." Without it they could not send trash to an Alabama Landfill instead of paying fees to the Summit Landfill -- City Officials cite this loss of revenue as key to the current financial shortfall.)

The photos show containers marked "Hazardous" and "Flammable" at the transfer station site. Environmental law forbids such containers from being unloaded at a non-hazardous site. Oliver says the photos were taken by recent employees at the site.