Hydro-Vac Attorney Responds to CFax on Toxic Dumping

To the Chattanooga Fax:
Over the last two years, you have published various stories that accuse our client, Hydro-Vac Services, Inc., and its president, Bill Foxworth, of various acts of environmental pollution. These same articles have alleged that Hydro-Vac and Mr. Foxworth have violated, and are violating, various provisions of state and federal law. Most of the material you have published is the product of allegations that have been made almost incessantly over the past ten years by former Hydro-Vac employee, Ernest Oliver.

Mr. Foxworth and Hydro-Vac deny that there are now, or have been in the past, any material violations of state or federal laws regarding Hydro-Vac's operation of its facility in St. Elmo....

Mr. Oliver was employed briefly by Hydro-Vac Services in 1990, but he was terminated for insubordination. Subsequently, Mr. Oliver filed numerous lawsuits...alleging various violations of applicable environmental laws and regulations. All of these lawsuits were dismissed or decided in favor of Hydro-Vac, with the exception of Oliver's claim for wrongful dismissal, which resulted in an administrative award of approximately $20,000, plus an award of interest.

Since being fired from Hydro-Vac in 1990, Mr. Oliver has attempted to sabotage Hydro-Vac through a series of unfounded allegations and frivolous lawsuits. As a result of Mr. Oliver's groundless allegations, the Hydro-Vac facility has received intense scrutiny from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), the Chattanooga Hamilton Co. Air Pollution Control Bureau and the City of Chattanooga...There are no outstanding notices of violation from any of these agencies, and none of these agencies have ever found reason to deny permits to Hydro-Vac or require it to suspend operations. And, despite rigorous investigation, none of these agencies have found any evidence to support Mr. Oliver's allegations...Notices of violations have been issued to Hydro-Vac in the past for minor operational deficiencies. Never, however, has any regulatory agency found any evidence of the illegal disposal of waste materials into Chattanooga Creek as alleged by Mr. Oliver.

Mr. Oliver's latest round of accusations against Hydro-Vac alleges that Hydro-Vac is conveying liquid, hazardous waste to the Tennessee River via a system of secret underground pipes...Such assertions are patently false and malicious. In fact, the recent assertion published by you that there was 'clear evidence' of illegal discharge of oil into Chattanooga Creek was considered during an inspection of the Hydro-Vac facility of Oct. 19, 2000. Present at the time were Rick Tate from Moccasin Bend, Joe Hartman and David Smith of TDEC';s Division of Solid Waste, as well as officials of the city and state storm water control authorities. The pipe referenced in your story was inspected and found to show no evidence of recent or more remote improper discharge of any materials. Further, the persons present also concluded that the pipe in question predates Hydro-Vac's acquisition of this property, and is likely an abandoned gas line formerly used to supply Wheland Foundry.

...Please consider this letter as notice that there is a substantial amount of readily available evidence to show that Oliver's assertions are groundless and malicious. There certainly is no evidence that any materials are being improperly discharged into Chattanooga Creek, but you have chosen to assert that pictures published by you clearly show 'used motor oil being dumped directly into Chattanooga Creek.' If you choose to continue the current campaign to impugn Hydro-Vac and Mr. Foxworth without bothering to review or acknowledge the substantial evidence rebutting Mr. Oliver's claims, our clients will review other options that may be available to them.

Very truly yours, Kirk Snouffer, Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel

Thank you for your lengthy letter stating your concerns about our representation of Hydro-Vac. Nevertheless, we stand by our stories, which speak for themselves, and encourage the public to read them at www.ChattanoogaFax.com.

CFax has acquired testimony of toxic dumping or violations of law by a host of former Hydro-Vac employees, not just Ernest Oliver. They include Greg Krum, Mike Truelove, Randall Blevins, James Forrester, and Jerry Magness. Former Systems Engineer George Kurtz sent us a memo confirming that under his tenure the plant never received approval from a qualified engineer as required by law and spoke of an obvious, pathetic attempt to cover up by HydroVac.

While we are happy to hear of the various regulators that are presently in approval of Hydro-Vac, that phenomenon is in fact a major reason for these continuing stories by CFax. Why are regulators issuing permits for a plant that has never been approved? Why do employees continue to report illegal dumping and violations if regulators are faithfully inspecting the plant? Why did the TDEC's Division of Solid Waste testify in an affidavit to a federal judge that Oliver's accusations were 'groundless' when a few months before that same agency reported that HydroVac Services was found in violation of the Tennessee Hazardous Waste Management Act? Why did a subsequent federal court state that the previous judge may have relied upon false affidavits?

We have changed the sentence on our website from clear pictures of used motor oil being dumped directly into Chattanooga Creek to clear pictures of what [Oliver] claims to be used motor oil being dumped directly into Chattanooga Creek. It's not worth going to court over. However, I have spoken personally with the two former employees (not Oliver) who took those pictures recently and have little question about their veracity. I guess it's their word and the pictures against that of the regulators who have been in approval of Hydro-Vac the past ten years.

In conclusion, if you really believe that Oliver's allegations are false and malicious, why don't you sue him? Oliver claims that he could punch the mayor in broad daylight and not get charged because the powers-that-be don't want him at the defense table with the power of discovery. Each day you delay in pursuing Oliver is another day that you strengthen his arguments.

Dean Arnold, Publisher