A government assassin who knows too much?

[Douglas Caddy]

Nuke official's comments stir security concerns

Feds seek answers after former chief at Palisades plant told magazine he was a hired assassin.

Paul Egan and Gordon Trowbridge / The Detroit News

May 18, 2007

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...METRO/705180372

Federal nuclear watchdogs and members of Congress are seeking answers after a former security director at a western Michigan nuclear plant gave a bizarre series of interviews to Esquire magazine in which he claimed to be a hired assassin.

William E. Clark, who until recently was security chief at the Palisades nuclear power plant near South Haven on Lake Michigan, told the magazine for an article in its June edition that he had worked as a government assassin, killing people in Vietnam, New Orleans and Iraq.

The article suggested most of Clark's claims were false and that he was emotionally unstable

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is responsible for safety and security at the nation's nuclear plants, has sent questions on the issue to Entergy Corp., the plant's current owner, according to Viktoria Mitlyng , a spokeswoman for the agency's regional office in Illinois. Consumers Energy Co. owned Palisades at the time Clark was hired; a third company, Nuclear Management Co., managed the plant for Consumers.

A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, said Entergy has promised to investigate and update him on its findings. Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., has called on NRC officials to investigate; Clark was employed at a Massachusetts plant before moving to Palisades.

Lana Pollack, president of the Michigan Environmental Council, said the article raises serious concerns about how key personnel at U.S. nuclear and chemical facilities -- prime targets for potential terrorist attacks -- are screened.

"If it were a movie, it would be amusing; in real life, it's upsetting," Pollack said Thursday. "The idea that he had full access to the Palisades plant and a fully armed team of guards who answered to him would be a stunning security lapse."

Mark Savage, a spokesman for the Palisades plant, said Clark took a medical leave on April 17 and resigned for medical reasons on May 9.

Mitlyng would not say specifically what information the NRC was seeking, but said federal rules on security and background checks for sensitive workers had become stricter after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Arline Datu, a spokeswoman for Nuclear Management, said the firm took security very seriously, and that all employees, including Clark, undergo a strict background check. She said she could not comment on whether any procedures were missed in Clark's case.

[Evan Marshall]

Nuke official's comments stir security concerns

Feds seek answers after former chief at Palisades plant told magazine he was a hired assassin.

Paul Egan and Gordon Trowbridge / The Detroit News

May 18, 2007

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...METRO/705180372

Federal nuclear watchdogs and members of Congress are seeking answers after a former security director at a western Michigan nuclear plant gave a bizarre series of interviews to Esquire magazine in which he claimed to be a hired assassin.

William E. Clark, who until recently was security chief at the Palisades nuclear power plant near South Haven on Lake Michigan, told the magazine for an article in its June edition that he had worked as a government assassin, killing people in Vietnam, New Orleans and Iraq.

The article suggested most of Clark's claims were false and that he was emotionally unstable

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is responsible for safety and security at the nation's nuclear plants, has sent questions on the issue to Entergy Corp., the plant's current owner, according to Viktoria Mitlyng , a spokeswoman for the agency's regional office in Illinois. Consumers Energy Co. owned Palisades at the time Clark was hired; a third company, Nuclear Management Co., managed the plant for Consumers.

A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, said Entergy has promised to investigate and update him on its findings. Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., has called on NRC officials to investigate; Clark was employed at a Massachusetts plant before moving to Palisades.

Lana Pollack, president of the Michigan Environmental Council, said the article raises serious concerns about how key personnel at U.S. nuclear and chemical facilities -- prime targets for potential terrorist attacks -- are screened.

"If it were a movie, it would be amusing; in real life, it's upsetting," Pollack said Thursday. "The idea that he had full access to the Palisades plant and a fully armed team of guards who answered to him would be a stunning security lapse."

Mark Savage, a spokesman for the Palisades plant, said Clark took a medical leave on April 17 and resigned for medical reasons on May 9.

Mitlyng would not say specifically what information the NRC was seeking, but said federal rules on security and background checks for sensitive workers had become stricter after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Arline Datu, a spokeswoman for Nuclear Management, said the firm took security very seriously, and that all employees, including Clark, undergo a strict background check. She said she could not comment on whether any procedures were missed in Clark's case.

I know this guy and he is a fraud-I sat on an intervew board when he applied for an instructors job with a Federal Agency with WMD responsibilities-he avoided most of the questions and I recommended he not be hired. The background he gave us was significantly different than what appeared in Esquire.

He worked a Dyncorp contract in Bosnia and appeared to misrepresent himself in several areas. He had to resign when it was discovered he had failed to disclose in he was legally blind in one eye and could not complete firearms instructor school.

He's a legend in his own mind.

Edited May 19, 2007 by Evan Marshall

[Evan Marshall]

Nuke official's comments stir security concerns

Feds seek answers after former chief at Palisades plant told magazine he was a hired assassin.

Paul Egan and Gordon Trowbridge / The Detroit News

May 18, 2007

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...METRO/705180372

Federal nuclear watchdogs and members of Congress are seeking answers after a former security director at a western Michigan nuclear plant gave a bizarre series of interviews to Esquire magazine in which he claimed to be a hired assassin.

William E. Clark, who until recently was security chief at the Palisades nuclear power plant near South Haven on Lake Michigan, told the magazine for an article in its June edition that he had worked as a government assassin, killing people in Vietnam, New Orleans and Iraq.

The article suggested most of Clark's claims were false and that he was emotionally unstable

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is responsible for safety and security at the nation's nuclear plants, has sent questions on the issue to Entergy Corp., the plant's current owner, according to Viktoria Mitlyng , a spokeswoman for the agency's regional office in Illinois. Consumers Energy Co. owned Palisades at the time Clark was hired; a third company, Nuclear Management Co., managed the plant for Consumers.

A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, said Entergy has promised to investigate and update him on its findings. Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., has called on NRC officials to investigate; Clark was employed at a Massachusetts plant before moving to Palisades.

Lana Pollack, president of the Michigan Environmental Council, said the article raises serious concerns about how key personnel at U.S. nuclear and chemical facilities -- prime targets for potential terrorist attacks -- are screened.

"If it were a movie, it would be amusing; in real life, it's upsetting," Pollack said Thursday. "The idea that he had full access to the Palisades plant and a fully armed team of guards who answered to him would be a stunning security lapse."

Mark Savage, a spokesman for the Palisades plant, said Clark took a medical leave on April 17 and resigned for medical reasons on May 9.

Mitlyng would not say specifically what information the NRC was seeking, but said federal rules on security and background checks for sensitive workers had become stricter after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Arline Datu, a spokeswoman for Nuclear Management, said the firm took security very seriously, and that all employees, including Clark, undergo a strict background check. She said she could not comment on whether any procedures were missed in Clark's case.

I know this guy and he is a fraud-I sat on an intervew board when he applied for an instructors job with a Federal Agency with WMD responsibilities-he avoided most of the questions and I recommended he not be hired. The background he gave us was significantly different than what appeared in Esquire.

He worked a Dyncorp contract in Bosnia and appeared to misrepresent himself in several areas. He had to resign when it was discovered he had failed to disclose in he was legally blind in one eye and could not complete firearms instructor school.

He's a legend in his own mind.

should add that there were ex-spec ops guys on the interview panel and they saw right thru him too.