OSHA CITES NAVY FOR EXPOSING WORKERS AT MAYPORT TO HAZARDOUS WASTE

June 21, 2005 Navy cited for exposing workers to hazardous waste Associated Press JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A federal safety agency cited the Navy for exposing civilian workers at Mayport Naval Station to hazardous waste from a ship’s missile system. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Monday listed 10 serious violations of work-safety laws identified in a January inspection of the MK41 missile system on the USS Vicksburg, a guided-missile cruiser. The agency cited the Navy for a buildup of cadmium and lead around the missile launcher, and found that civilians working around the missile system also lacked safety training and medical testing to gauge their exposure to heavy metals. Only the USS Vicksburg was inspected, but the Navy has six weeks to correct similar conditions on any ship with the same missile launcher, said James Borders, from OSHA’s Jacksonville office. The Navy will ask for a review of the violations in a meeting with OSHA, a spokesman said. OSHA began investigating after a whistle-blower at Mayport Naval Station charged that people working around a missile-launching system on cruisers and destroyers weren’t properly trained or protected from the residue left behind by fired rockets. Almost a quarter of the Navy’s ships use the MK41 system, which launches missiles from a series of canisters stored under a ship’s deck. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Back to top WWW.NAVYTIMES.COM