ATTORNEY GENERAL JOHN ASHCROFT HOLDS A NEWS CONFERENCE ON 
PROSECUTING HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE TRANSPORTATION VIOLATIONS

September 30, 2003 Tuesday 

JOHN ASHCROFT, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL 
WASHINGTON, D.C. 

SEPTEMBER 30, 2003 

SPEAKERS: JOHN ASHCROFT 
U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL 

NORM MINETA 
U.S. SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION 

ASHCROFT: Good afternoon. 

Today I'm announcing a new environmental crimes prevention program, the 
Hazardous Materials Transportation, or Hazmat, Initiative. For this 
announcement, I'm very pleased to be joined by Secretary Mineta of the 
Department of Transportation. 

I'm delighted that you're here. 

Also with us is Marion Blakey, the administrator of the Federal Aviation 
Administration. Ken Mead, the inspector general of the Department of 
Transportation, is with us. Of course, Tom Sansonetti, the assistant attorney 
general for the Environment and Natural Resources Division. Also with us 
today is Greg Lockhart, the United States attorney from the Southern District 
of Ohio. 

Greg, thank you for being here. 

And Tim Burgess. Tim Burgess is the United States attorney from Alaska. 

I also want to thank the Department of Homeland Security, under the dedicated 
leadership of Secretary Tom Ridge, and the Transportation Security 
Administration, which are working with the Federal Aviation Administration to 
secure our transportation networks. 

Now, since the attacks of September 11, the overarching mission of the 
Justice Department has been the prevention of terrorism. With that in mind, 
I've directed each component of the Justice Department to dedicate resources 
to homeland security efforts, while maintaining a focus on their other 
crucial responsibilities. 

Under the innovative leadership of Tom Sansonetti, the Environment and 
Natural Resources Division has developed and is implementing the Hazmat 
Initiative. This plan uses available tools in environmental and safety law to 
deal with potential security threats from the illegal transport of hazardous 
materials. 

ASHCROFT: The Hazardous Materials Initiative, or Hazmat Initiative, is doing 
for transportation safety what we are doing across the country for passenger 
safety on the roads, on the rails, or in the air. 

Considering the numbers, it is clear why hazardous materials are of concern. 
More than 1.5 billion tons of hazardous materials are shipped annually. 
Complex shipment routes create opportunities for those seeking to harm our 
citizens and disrupt our way of life. 

Over the past two years, terrorists have forced us to alter our assumptions 
about their targets and their tactics. It is not difficult to postulate a 
terrorist attack that involves hazardous materials. Thousands of deaths and 
injuries and severe property damage could result from an incident involving 
illegal transportation of hazardous materials. 

The department's initial investigation of possible vulnerabilities in this 
area indicated the potential for significant and repeated illegal transport 
of hazardous materials whether by air, sea, road or rail. Concentrated effort 
was necessary to root out bad actors and protect the American people from the 
potentially severe consequences of hazmat violations. 

The Hazmat Initiative targets violators of hazmat requirements in all 
transportation modes. It will make more difficult for terrorists and other 
criminals the transportation and ultimately the ability to obtain hazardous 
materials illegally. 

The Department has established a core team of criminal prosecutors from the 
Environment and Natural Resources Division who will work with the 93 United 
States attorneys and the Department of Transportation. They will train hazmat 
enforcement and regulatory personnel and prosecutors to track down and bring 
to justice violators of the hazardous materials laws. 

This initiative has already born fruit. This morning in the federal district 
court for the Southern District of Ohio, Emery Worldwide Airlines 
Incorporated entered a plea of guilty to 12 felony violations of the 
Hazardous Materials Transportation Act. In this case -- which was unrelated 
to any terrorist activity -- Emery illegally transported materials, including 
explosives, radioactive materials and flammable gas and liquid by aircraft. 
As a result, in many instances, pilots in command of the aircraft had no 
written notice that hazardous materials were on board the aircraft. 

ASHCROFT: By continuing to transport hazmat without sufficiently addressing 
the problems identified in the internal audits, Emery willfully violated 
hazardous materials transportation laws. 

In connection with its guilty plea regarding these violations, Emery will pay 
a $6 million criminal penalty and will develop a compliance program to detect 
and prevent future violations. 

Protecting and preserving the environment for future generations of Americans 
is a top priority of the Justice Department. But as this Hazmat Initiative 
shows, the environmental and safety laws also protect the health and security 
of our citizens. Compliance with and enforcement of these laws makes a real 
difference in our level of national preparedness. 

All those who violate these laws are on notice. We will prosecute those who 
knowingly break the law and endanger our land and our lives. 

I thank Tom Sansonetti for his leadership and I commend the Environment and 
Natural Resources Division for its efforts to make the Hazmat Initiative a 
success. 

Each and every day, that commitment makes a difference in the health of our 
citizens and the protection of our environment and the security of the United 
States of America. 

It is my pleasure now to turn the podium over the Secretary Norman Mineta of 
the Department of Transportation. I am delighted that he is a part of this 
effort, which we are announcing today and a part of this case which we 
announce today. We need to coordinate our efforts not only on the enforcement 
of regulations, but on matters that relate to criminal violations, as well. 
And it's a pleasure to call Norm to the stand. 

MINETA: Thank you very much, General Ashcroft. It really is an honor for me 
to have this opportunity to join you here this afternoon. Our departments are 
important partners in the Bush administration's ongoing efforts to protect 
the health and safety of the American people. 

Now, we are passionate about safety at the Department of Transportation. 

MINETA: And that means that we are passionate about making the infrastructure 
that supports our national transportation network safer and more secure than 
it has ever been. 

As the attorney general just explained, the Hazmat Initiative will play a 
vital role in furthering homeland security. But the reasons that we at the 
Department of Transportation are pleased to be full partners in carrying out 
the Hazmat Initiative goes beyond terrorist threats. 

More than 800,000 shipments of hazardous materials move across the United 
States in legitimate commerce every day, and many of these materials are part 
of our daily life. They can include batteries, hair spray, oxygen tanks, the 
gasoline that powers our cars and the chemicals used in our medicines. And 
there is no reasons for Americans to fear being injured by or otherwise 
exposed to hazmat as long as these materials are being transported safely. 

And there are no shortcuts to safety. At the Department of Transportation, we 
give no quarter to companies that violate hazmat safety standards and 
regulations. Their irresponsible actions put our communities at risk, and 
jeopardize the lives and the health of the traveling public and, indeed, the 
public at large. 

They threaten the safety of our pilots and truck drivers and freight 
handlers, and of our first responders, who need to know what materials and 
how much they're dealing with when responding to transportation accidents and 
incidents. 

The Department of Transportation has authority to proceed administratively 
against violators of the hazardous materials transportation laws, and we 
bring many such actions every year. 

But for those who refuse to accept that we are serious about compliance with 
these laws, for those who are flagrant or willful violators, criminal 
enforcement is sometimes the only way that we can ensure the safety of our 
transportation system. 

MINETA: Accordingly, the Hazmat Initiative will provide an important backstop 
to our administration enforcement efforts. 

On behalf of the Department of Transportation, I would like to thank the many 
fine men and women at the Department of Justice who are providing that 
backstop on a daily basis. 

In the Emery case, the Department of Transportation worked shoulder to 
shoulder with the Justice prosecutors to investigate and develop this case. 
Particular credit must go to the Office of Inspector General at the 
Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration. And I 
want to congratulate our inspector general, Kenneth Mead, and our FAA 
administrator, Marion Blakey, and their staffs on a job well done. 

The Emery case is just one successful example of our combined efforts, and 
you can expect to see future, vigorous enforcement actions against violators. 
And there will be actions you may never hear about that help ensure 
compliance. 

The attorney general has spoken of the specific commitments that the 
Department of Justice has made in support of this initiative. Now, these 
commitments complement our efforts at the Department of Transportation. The 
Department of Transportation's Research and Special Programs Administration, 
RSPA, has been tightening regulations that provide the framework for safe and 
secure transport of hazardous materials by ground, water, rail and air. 

To see that these critical regulations are followed, we have developed a 
three-pronged strategy of: one, expanded education and training; two, 
increased vigilance through enhanced inspection; and, three, vigorous 
enforcement. 

The FAA, for example, is reaching out to carriers and shippers with new 
education and training programs to create awareness of the regulations and 
the possible penalties for failures to comply. This outreach is combined with 
aggressive inspections to let them know that we are indeed serious. 

By gathering and analyzing data to guide its inspections, the FAA is able to 
spot and combat dangerous trends before they become problems. 

MINETA: Hazmat is a top investigative priority of our Office of Inspector 
General, which has conducted investigations with the Department of Justice 
that have included illegal transport of hazmat via airlines, truck, rail, 
ships and pipelines. 

Taken together, these educational and training, inspection and enforcement 
efforts, both at the administrative and the judicial level, make a real 
difference to the safety and well-being of all Americans. 

Again, Mr. Attorney General, I thank you, and I look forward to continuing to 
work in partnership with the Department of Justice on this very important 
initiative. 

ASHCROFT: Thank you very much, Norm. It's an honor to have you here in the 
department with us. And obviously we feel that good work can be done for 
America when we work hard together. 

Other questions then? 

QUESTION: Before we pursue the Hazardous Material Initiative further, I 
wanted to ask you something before you get away that's on all of our minds, 
on another subject, if I might briefly. 

As you know, there are a number of people who are calling for you to appoint 
a special counsel to look into the leak since you have a leak investigation, 
and I wonder if you can tell us what action you've taken and what factors you 
consider when deciding whether to appoint a special counsel. 

ASHCROFT: Well, last week the Department of Justice received from the Central 
Intelligence Agency a request for a criminal investigation concerning a 
possible violation of federal law regarding an alleged unauthorized 
disclosure of classified information. 

After a prompt review of this request, the Criminal Division of the 
Department of Justice, with the assistance of the FBI as the lead 
investigative agency, opened a full investigation, and that was last Friday. 

The prosecutors and agents who are and will be handling this investigation 
are career professionals with extensive experience in handling matters 
involving sensitive national security information and with experience 
relating to investigations of unauthorized disclosures of such information. 

Yesterday, the Department of Justice informed the White House counsel's 
office of this investigation and requested that the White House preserve all 
documents that might be relevant to the investigation to the extent not 
already done in the normal course of their activities. 

ASHCROFT: A similar request has been made of the CIA. 

Now, such requests are standard procedures in investigations of this type. 

Due to the fact that this is an ongoing investigation of alleged criminal 
violations, I will not be making any further comment regarding this matter at 
this time. 

QUESTION: Without going into the matter any more fully, could you just 
describe why you decided not to name a special counsel? 

ASHCROFT: Let me go over the last statement that I made. 

Due to the fact that this is an ongoing investigation of criminal violations, 
I will not be making any further comment on this matter at this time. 

QUESTION: Can you at least say what assurances you can give people that the 
matter will be handled independently without... 

ASHCROFT: Are there other questions today? 

Yes? 

QUESTION: I was wondering, outside the three-part program that the secretary 
of transportation described, are there any other substantive changes to 
implement this Hazardous Materials Initiative? 

ASHCROFT: Well, we've talked about assembling the kind of prosecutorial and 
investigative teams that can do this job and do it well. And these teams will 
be available across the nation when they encounter circumstances which 
require the expertise developed in these teams. 

And we have with us two outstanding U.S. attorneys -- one, Tim Burgess of 
Alaska and Greg Lockhart from the Southern District of Ohio. It was in the 
Southern District of Ohio that the case mentioned today was handled. And it's 
an effort on our part to provide an appropriate focus of resources to achieve 
the results that are necessary to enhance safety. 

And I would underscore what the Secretary of Transportation said, that there 
are times when criminal penalties seem to be the only effective means of 
garnering the appropriate level of attention, and we would not be reluctant 
to use the criminal authorities and prosecute on that basis. 

I might add that the $6 million fine which was announced today is one of the 
top handful of fines in the history of this kind of enforcement and we take 
these matters very, very seriously. 

QUESTION: I was just wondering if you could follow up on Eric's question. He 
just asked what assurances can you give the American public that this will be 
an independent inquiry? 

ASHCROFT: Apparently, there aren't any other questions. 

I want to thank you very much. 

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