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A public hearing was held last week on Homestake Mining Company’s discharge permit with modification at the Cibola County, NM, Complex. The Homestake reclamation project is a Superfund Site cleanup site which involves a 25-million ton uranium waste pile. Homestake Project Manager Al Cox says he has been waiting for re-approval of the existing permit for several years and is now requesting a third pond, EP3, to speed up the process of reclamation. “We’ve lost time [without the third pond],” said George Hoffman, a hydrology expert witness for HMC. “We’ve been unable to maximize the process being used for cleanup.”

Expert witness Chris Shuey of the Southwest Research Center questioned the success of the current Homestake Mining Company’s reclamation project’s success.

For more, see cibolabeacon.com.

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Seven former staffers from the House Democratic caucus have pleaded guilty in Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett’s three-year government corruption investigation that has become known as Bonusgate. Former State Rep. Michael Veon is scheduled to go on trial for similar charges on January 19th. The defendants conspired “to pay bonuses of legislative funds — taxpayer money — to legislative employees for political campaign work,” prosecutor James Reeder told Dauphin County Common Pleas Judge Richard Lewis.

The guilty pleas come from staffers who held critical posts, including Veon’s former chief of staff, Rep. Bill DeWeese’s former chief of staff, and the former director of the Democratic Legislative Research Office. Computer forensics expert witness Gregory Kelley gave crucial testimony regarding e-mail message evidence in the case.

Pittsburgh defense attorney Joel Sansone argued to exclude the messages because they were obtained from state Rep. Bill DeWeese, who they claim was a co-conspirator and had the opportunity to exclude messages that might implicate himself or clear others. He also would have had the opportunity to alter messages.

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Cell phones previously linked to two of the three suspects on trial for the January 2009 murder of a Montgomery Township, PA, man were used in the vicinity of the slaying and at the approximate time of the killing, according to an FBI agent. Citing cell phone records reflecting the cell towers that carried the calls, communications expert witness and FBI Special Agent William Shute Friday testified that these phones were used in the Philadelphia area where the defendants lived up until about 4 a.m. on Jan. 9. Calls made from these phones then were recorded using two cell towers nearest to the residence of 58-year-old Robert Chae of Gwynmont Drive, the expert witness testified.

In earlier testimony, the cell phone numbers tracked by Shute in his report were for phones reportedly used by Joseph Page, 23, and Amatadi Latham, 26. Page, Latham and Pitts are on trial on second- and third-degree murder charges stemming from Robert Chae’s suffocation death and the subsequent robbery of his home shortly after 5 a.m. on Jan. 9, 2009.

For more, see phillyburbs.com.

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In The Goldhaber Warnings Report, semantics expert witness Dr. Gerald M. Goldhaber writes on how to design a product warning:

3. If the hazards exist and are unknown or hidden to the user, how can we best communicate with or warn the user about these hazards, their consequences and how to eliminate or reduce the risk of exposure to these consequences? Although we will devote several future issues to this question, for now, it is important to understand that an effective warning must be seen, read and understood so that the user can decide how to proceed safely and avoid injury from product use. Most warnings should, in a clear, conspicuous manner, communicate the following information:

a. A clear statement of the hazard(s) and danger(s) that the user is likely to confront at the time of use.

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In Cash Flow: The Life Blood of Business mergers expert witness Steve Rabin writes:

Cash is essential to the success of any business. Cash is the “life blood” that keeps a business operating. If cash drys up, the business fails. Understanding your business’ cash flow is a key managerial skill.

Failure to properly plan cash flow is one of the leading causes of small business failures. Understanding the basics will help you better manage your cash flow. Cash flow considerations become even more important as the economy struggles and businesses need to tighten all financial controls.

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In The Goldhaber Warnings Report, communication analysis expert witness Dr. Gerald M. Goldhaber writes on how to design a product warning:

2. Who is the likely user of our products that may be hazardous at the time of use? A meeting among marketing personnel should be held, during which they consult any available market research and demographic studies to identify and profile the likely or typical user of the product(s). Warnings are a form of communication and, as with any communication, should be designed with the intended audience in mind. A review of all sales, promotional and safety literature related to the product, including manuals, current labels, brochures, the company web site, advertisements, packaging, videotapes or DVD’s of ads, as well as any in-house documents (memos, minutes of meetings, studies, etc.) related to the design, development and evaluation of warnings should occur.

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In The Goldhaber Warnings Report, linguistics expert witness Dr. Gerald M. Goldhaber writes on how to design a product warning:

1. What hazard(s), risks and dangers that are known or likely to be known to us (the manufacturer) exist or are likely to exist with the use of our product(s)? A meeting among the key engineers who have designed the product and the marketing personnel who must sell the product (and any other relevant personnel, e.g., industrial hygienists, lawyers, etc.) should be held to discuss the details of:

a. How can an individual get hurt at the time they use the product?

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A federal judge on Thursday set closing arguments for Feb. 11 in the state’s lawsuit involving the poultry industry’s alleged role in polluting the Illinois River watershed. U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell, who is presiding over the trial, which began Sept. 24 in Tulsa, gave the parties until Feb. 5 to submit proposed written findings to the court. The state’s lawsuit against the poultry industry, filed in 2005, alleges that poultry companies are legally responsible for the handling and disposal of poultry waste – also known as litter – that the state says has damaged portions of the Illinois River watershed.

Attorneys representing the poultry industry rested their case Wednesday, but trial testimony is not quite over. On Thursday, Frizzell granted the state’s request to allow rebuttal testimony by a pair of pollution expert witnesses. The court scheduled that to take place Jan. 25-26.

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com.

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Two McGill University faculty members may be called to testify as expert witnesses in a landmark California Supreme Court case that will determine whether California’s current prohibition on equal marriage is unconstitutional. The case, which began last Monday, will challenge Proposition 8, the California Marriage Protection Act. The legislation reinstated a ban on equal marriage in the state when it was approved by 52.3 per cent of California voters in November 2008.

A plaintiff’s witness list includes marriage expert witness Katherine Young, a professor in the McGill Faculty of Religious Studies, who “purports to be knowledgeable in comparative religion and on what universally constitutes marriage.” Paul Nathanson, a researcher in the same faculty, is also included on the list and is described as someone who “purports to be knowledgeable about religious attitudes toward Proposition 8.”

For more, see mcgilldaily.com.

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In the Guidebook for Airport Safety Management Systems aviation safety expert witness Mac McCall, A.A.E, writes:

The International Civil Aviation Organization, recognizing these facts and that “the public’s perception of aviation safety is largely based on the number of aircraft accidents rather than the accident rate,” issued a resolution to “reduce the numbers of accidents and fatalities irrespective of the volumes of air traffic.” The ICAO further provides guidance on how to achieve this resolution, including the recommendation to “develop a civil aviation safety management framework and recommendations for improving safety.”

In recent years a great deal of effort has been devoted to understanding how accidents happen. It is generally accepted that most accidents result from human error. It would be easy to conclude that these human errors indicate carelessness or lack of skills on the job, but such a statement is not accurate. Accident investigators are finding that the human error is only the last link in a chain that leads to an accident. Accidents cannot be prevented by changing people; they can be prevented only when we address the underlying causal factors.

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