News of the Week er this year in Atlanta), which provide key guidelines on professional relations in the academic environment for graduate students, postdoctoral associates, professors, mentors, and academic administrators. Among other actions, the board approved a $300,000 challenge grant to help fund preparation of a series of three one-hour programs designed for public television entitled "The Molecular World." This challenge grant will require a two-toone match by new funds not currently committed to the project. The programs, coordinated by Nobel Laureate Roald Hoffmann, would provide the viewing public with a better insight into the role chemistry plays in everyday life. Ernest Carpenter
Union attacks Phillips explosion settlement The Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers International Union is denouncing the Occupational Safety & Health Administration for a settlement agreement just reached with Phillips 66. That agreement settles charges issued against Phillips by OSHA after the October 1989 explosion and fire that destroyed the company's Pasadena, Tex., chemical complex and killed 23 workers. "This agreement is proof positive that OSHA has no serious intent to stem the tide of fires and explosions in the petrochemical industry," says Robert E. Wages, president of OCAW, which represented workers at the complex. Under the agreement, announced Aug. 22, Phillips will pay a $4 million fine and implement corporatewide process safety management procedures to settle citations arising from the accident. However, Phillips admits no liability in connection with the accident, and the firm maintains that no OSHA or other safety standards were violated. Phillips has stated that the accident occurred when well-established and understood plant procedures were not followed. Indeed, the penalty is weaker than the one OSHA originally proposed last spring: It has agreed to delete the willful characK> September 2, 1991 C&EN
terization of its citation, and reduce the fine from $5.66 million. OCAW retorts that the $4 million fine is only a small percentage of Phillips' income "and only represents a drop in the bucket" compared with the insurance payments Phillips gained for the explosion. "The settlement agreement is a sad comment on the force of OSHA in the lives of workers. There is virtually no worker input into the agreement, and no way for workers to protest the terms of the agreement," notes OCAW. Wages adds: "Without a meaningful federal law, we need to go to the various states. What we need are worker right-toact statutes in all the states. We also need criminal prosecution for CEOs and plant managers. That might have some clout." For his part, OSHA Administrator Gerard F. Scannell says: "The goal of this settlement is to prevent future tragedies and protect workers, the public, and the environment. This agreement goes beyond the citation and allows corporatewide safety measures to be implemented immediately rather than causing delays through prolonged litigation." The Phillips fine topped OSHA's previous record, set in January when Arco Chemical Co. paid $3.48 million to settle charges of July 1990 violations at its plant in Channelview, Tex., that led to a blast killing 17 workers. However, a new record was set last week with a $5.8 million fine against Citgo Petroleum Corp. stemming from a Louisiana refinery fire. Susan Ainsworth
FROMNEWYORKOTY
NIH scientist not allowed to give paper An American Chemical Society symposium aimed at e n g e n d e r i n g broad, open discussion of scientific fraud and misconduct was partially thwarted in its purpose when a key speaker was prevented by his employer from presenting his paper. The symposium, cosponsored by the divisions of Professional Relations and Chemistry & the Law, was
on whistleblowers. The speaker who was not present was Walter W. Stewart, a persistent investigator of scientific misconduct who currently works at the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive & Kidney Diseases (NIDDKD). Stewart's stillborn paper was entitled "The Baltimore Fiasco: A Case Study in Fraud." This case involves a paper published in the journal Cell in 1986 by Nobel Laureate David Baltimore, Thereza Imanishi-Kari, and four others, and subsequently challenged by whistleblower Margot O'Toole (C&EN, April 8, page 35). Baltimore himself has not been accused of fraud. A Washington, D.C.-based lawyer representing Baltimore approached the American Chemical Society expressing concern over the Stewart paper. ACS responded that it would not prevent its presentation. But arrangements were made for Grace B. Borowitz, who organized the symposium, to read a disclaimer stating that the opinions expressed were those of the speakers alone, and not necessarily reflective of those of ACS. Baltimore's lawyer also contacted the general counsel's offices of the National Institutes of Health and its parent agency, the Public Health Service. Stewart was informed by NIDDKD executive officer L. Earl Laurence that his request to give the paper was denied on the grounds that it was inappropriate for an NIH employee to discuss a case—in this instance the Baltimore controversy—that was still under investigation by NIH's Office of Scientific Integrity (OSI). The decision, Laurence says, was made by Audrey F. Manley, acting assistant secretary for health in the Department of Health & Human Services. Laurence tells C&EN that "Stewart has been talking about scientific misconduct, particularly this case, for some time. This is the first time that a request he has made has not been approved," since he came back to NIH from his detail to the House Energy & Commerce Committee. Stewart adds that OSI director Jules V. Hallum did not have a problem < with what he (Stewart) would have presented. Janice Long
