State secrets to share? Activist group seeking whistleblowers on Public Utilities Commission

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By Deborah Sullivan Brennan   Contact Reporter September 29, 2017 Public Watchdogs, a La Mesa-based nonprofit group that has been dogging the California Public Utilities Commission on topics from energy rates to the decommissioning of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, is seeking a new ally: the commission’s own employees. The organization dispatched more than 1,000 letters to employees of the regulatory agency inviting them to become whistleblowers. The letter referenced…

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CPUC Chief Administrative Law Judge Fired for “upholding rules”

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  The Honorable Karen Clopton, the highly respected Chief Administrative Law Judge at California’s scandal-plagued Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has been terminated for “upholding the rules” according to a formal complaint filedon September 19, 2017,  by Judge Clopton’s attorneys with the State of California Personnel Board. In addition, a complaint was filed in Superior Court seeking damages on December 18, 2017.   While the allegations of racism…

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Media Advisory: Could a leaking can at San Onofre cause mass evacuations for millions of people?

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Leaked documents show Edison has no way to inspect nuclear waste containers for deadly cracks WHO:        Charles Langley of Public Watchdogs and Donna Gilmore of San Onofre Safety are available for comment today. WHAT:       A leaked Edison presentation reveals that the corporation has no way of inspecting its nuclear waste canisters for damages that could result in deadly radioactive leaks and mass evacuations WHEN:      Langley (San Diego) and…

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Former NRC chair blasts deal to move SONGS nuke waste as “recipe for sustained failure”

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The former Chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is blasting an agreement to remove nuclear waste at SONGS as “Not in Public’s interest” and a “recipe for sustained failure.” When the law firm of Aguirre & Severson triumphantly announced that it had brokered an agreement from Southern California Edison to safely remove its deadly nuclear waste from the beach at San Onofre, local activists jeered the deal…

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Settlement talks to move deadly nuke waste fail to remove the waste to a new location

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Contrary to public expectations, settlement talks about finding an alternative location for nuclear waste burial at San Onofre have failed to prevent the burial of waste at the beach. But it isn’t stopping the plaintiffs from declaring victory. AUGUST 28, 2017, SAN DIEGO:  Today, the activist group Citizens Oversight announced that it has successfully negotiated an out-of-court settlement (get a copy of the settlement here) that…

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Public Watchdogs invites 1,056 CPUC employees to blow the whistle

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DATELINE SAN DIEGO, August 14, 2017 Today, Public Watchdogs announced that it has sent personal letters to every  employee at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).  Each of the 1056 letters invites the recipients to become a  confidential informant and instructs them on how to do it safely. A name-redacted sample of the hand-signed and hand addressed invitation can be viewed here. “This is a personal…

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New Video: Is Edison’s Community Engagement panel a Sham?

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The San Onofre Community Engagement panel is a ratepayer-funded public relations effort by Southern California Edison. It is designed not to “engage” but to pacify the public and politicians into believing that Edison is a responsible, honest, law-abiding corporation that can be a trusted steward of its deadly radioactive waste from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating station known as SONGS. Get the video. SIGN THE PETITION

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San Onofre — another Chernobyl?

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Radiation would be 40 times worse By Don Bauder, June 14, 2017 A terrorist attack that could endanger 8.5 million people. Who cares? A tsunami or earthquake that could spread even wider damage. Yawn. A potentially disastrous meltdown. Fuhgeddaboudit. A utility stock that zooms upward, paying fat dividends. Bingo! Finally, you are talking about something important. Wall Street has that view: the only thing important about utilities is…

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Princeton Study: U.S. nuke disaster could dwarf Fukushima

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New report from Princeton shows failure of Nuclear  Regulatory Commission to accurately assess risk For immediate release, May 26, 2017 For background or to arrange an interview contact Charles Langley at  (858) 752-4600  A new Princeton study, which uses an advanced weather modeling program called HYSPLIT, developed by NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shows that a radiation plume from a spent fuel disaster  would affect more than 18…

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Public Watchdogs’ report blasts NRC for reckless “regulatory failure” at San Onofre

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 Southern California Edison’s disaster response plan for San Onofre shifts responsibility for a nuclear emergency from FEMA to local fire and police departments SAN DIEGO, May 17, 2017, 7:30AM  – Today, Public Watchdogs unleashed a chronological 30-page report and 450-page analysis of regulatory failure and the deeply flawed safety planning and emergency response plans at the now-defunct San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) owned by Southern…

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Nuclear Storage podcast with Larry Smith KPFK with American Indian Airwaves

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It was an honor and a privilege for Public Watchdogs to participate in a recent radio interview with Larry Smith of KPFK with American Indian Airwaves by the invitation of Adelia Sandoval,  a leader of the Acjachemen NATION Juaneno Band. The Acjachemen were the indigenous peoples who occupied the land for 4,000 plus years in which the San Onofre Generating Station was built.

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Public Watchdogs talks with citizens about the San Onofre Nuclear waste dump

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On January 13, 2018, Southern California Edison will bury the radioactive equivalent of 700 nuclear warheads on the beach at San Onofre State Beach Park within 108 feet of the water.  Each of the 75 waste containers holds more radiation than what was released at Chernobyl. When it is completed, it will be the world’s largest beachfront nuclear waste dump.

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