Whistle-Blower Jill Simpson Issues Rare Public Statement

by Glynn Wilson

In response to a new story in The Huffington Post Wednesday about a conflict of interest on the part of the judge who presided in the federal case against former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, attorney and whistle-blower Jill Simpson issued a rare, lengthy public statement today calling on the Obama Justice Department to immediately set aside the convictions of Siegelman and release his co-defendant Richard Scrushy from prison.

In her statement, included in full in the comments below, she details misdeeds on the part of the Bush Justice Department’s Public Integrity Division, including hiding evidence, and comes to this conclusion.

“As a result of these misdeeds the DOJ should immediately release Mr. Scrushy and file motions to set aside the convictions. To do anything less is just plain wrong,” she said. “It is important for our Justice Department to seek Justice, not just to seek to win. Justice will only be served at this point by the release of Mr. Scrushy and by the convictions being set aside.”

Based on her research into the case, and an affidavit filed by another attorney named Paul Weeks, she says once again that Fuller had a conflict of interest that was never disclosed to Siegelman’s attorneys and that he should have recused himself form sitting in judgment in the case.

She revealed her knowledge of a conflict of interest on the part of Judge Fuller to me in the very first story written about this nearly two years ago.

Weeks detailed a political vendetta on the part of Chief U.S. District Judge Mark E. Fuller against Siegelman dating back to Siegelman’s term as governor and Fuller’s days as a local district attorney from Enterprise, all in an affidavit that was in the possession of the Bush Justice Department but completely ignored by the Public Integrity Division investigating the case.

“The time has come for those at the Department of Justice to admit their wrong doings by accepting responsibility for not providing the Weeks affidavit, and for allowing an attorney who is supposed to be over investigating a complaint on a judge to defend that judge in another matter without ever disclosing his conflict,” she said.

She indicated she was exercising her First Amendment right as a citizen to speak out on the injustice that has occurred at the U.S. Department of Justice in the Siegelman-Scrushy case because it was the right thing to do.

“Not to speak out in my opinion would be wrong because it will allow this ridiculous injustice to continue,” she said.

From his reporting on the case, attorney and investigative reporter Andrew Kreig has stored a number of the documents in the case on his Web site, including some of the most relevant exhibits here.

An analysis by the Conservation Alabama Foundation finds that Alabama’s landfill permitting practices put the state at high risk for accepting more out-of-state coal ash and other hazardous materials.

“Alabama has 32 municipal landfills with a permitted daily flow capacity of 51,205 tons,” said Adam Snyder, executive director of the Conservation Alabama Foundation. “Considering Alabamians produce about 12,600 tons per day of waste, there is nearly four times the capacity at state landfills for Alabama’s needs.”

Eight of the 32 municipal landfills in the state are permitted to take out of state waste, with a total out-of-state capacity of 24,200 tons per day. New landfills, such as the proposed Conecuh Woods landfill in Conecuh County, could add 10,000 tons per day of out-of-state waste.

“Such a glut in landfill capacity makes Alabama a prime target for out-of-state waste, such as the coal ash that is planned to be transported from Kingston, Tenn. to Perry County’s Arrowhead Landfill,” Snyder said. “Alabama’s landfill permitting practices need to be reviewed before another landfill is allowed to open or a current landfill is allowed to expand.”

The Arrowhead Landfill is permitted to accept 7,500 tons of garbage per day, although its Web site shows a capacity of 15,000 tons per day. Should Arrowhead put all of their permitted flow towards accepting the estimated 3.9 million tons of waste from the Tennessee Valley Authority’s spill in Kingston, coal ash will be flowing into Perry County for more than 520 days.

An analysis done by the Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation in 2005 found that about two-thirds of the landfills in Alabama are sited in or around impoverished and/or minority communities. Census estimates show that 31 percent of the citizens of Perry County live in poverty and a significant number of the county’s citizens are minority.

We echo the concerns of this group and urge an investigation of this practice.

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Perry County Landfill Set to Double Intake, Expand to 33 States?

Studies of public documents on the Alabama Department of Environmental Management’s Web site reveal that Arrowhead Landfill in Perry County is seeking permission to allow double its current permitted waste intake.

Perry County Associates, LLC has applied for a major permit modification to the Solid Waste Disposal Permit No. 53-03 for the Perry County Associates Landfill. The modification involves expanding service area, increasing disposal volume and minor operational changes as explained in the draft permit…..The service area for the Perry County Associates Landfill (as contained in the permit application and approved by the Perry County Commission) after proposed major modification will be the States of Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The maximum average daily volume of waste disposed at the Perry County Associates Landfill (as contained in the permit application and as approved by Perry County Commission) after the proposed major modification will be 15,000 tons/day.

“Alabama already has capacity to take more than 24,000 tons per day of out of state waste, and this permit modification would expand the potential out-of-state waste stream to more than 31,000 tons per day, more than 2.5 times the waste that Alabamians produce per day,” Snyder said. “Such a glut in landfill capacity makes Alabama a prime target for out-of-state waste, such as the toxic coal ash that is planned to be transported from Kingston, Tenn. to Perry County’s Arrowhead Landfill. Alabama’s landfill permitting practices need to be reviewed before this landfill is allowed to expand or a new landfill is allowed to open.”