Editor's note: The submission below is an excerpt from testimony given in March 2003 by former Deputy Laboratory Director Joe Salgado to a House subcommittee on oversight and investigations. Generally speaking, submissions to the Reader's Forum should be the original work of the author. The editor reserves the right not to publish submissions that are not the original work of the author. To read the entire transcript of the Salgado testimony, click here.

Aug. 19, 2003

Keeping the valley green

Members of this Committee would have no way of knowing the particular significance of statements like "keeping the valley green" or that these statements, as made in [a] previous hearing, may unfortunately prejudice some of the judgments and conclusions about theft at the Laboratory.

At the Laboratory, the valley is a very specific and clearly understood term that refers to the Española Valley of Northern New Mexico. It is an area that is overwhelmingly Hispanic. By far the largest portion of the Laboratory's Hispanic employees, most of whom are not scientists and engineers, come from Española and surrounding areas, collectively referred to as "the valley." Many of its inhabitants' ancestors settled the area 300 or 400 years ago. They are extremely and justifiably proud of their heritage and the contributions they have made to the state, the Laboratory, the nation and national security over the years.

Overall, "the valley" is a place of significant rural poverty. It has none of the natural resources that are more common to southern New Mexico; it does not have a robust industrial base; and it does not share in the benefits of the tourism industry enjoyed by Santa Fe and Albuquerque to the south. Unfortunately, parts of "the valley" are plagued by the types of drug problems that accompany poverty in too many areas of the country.

The Laboratory, and state government located in Santa Fe, are the principal employers for residents of the valley. And, I am sorry to say, there are those at the Laboratory who assume that the drug problem in "the valley" and the fact that many employees come from "the valley" means there is an inevitable problem of theft at the Laboratory and a connection to the drug problem. These assumptions are expressed by phrases such as "greening the valley."

Might the Laboratory be a target for thieves involved in drug use? Common sense would say that it might. But, allegations that it is actually happening, without substantiating evidence or clear indications of such, are irresponsible and risk a kind of racial profiling that all of us ought to reject out of hand.

Such allegations ignore the rigorous screening of the Laboratory's work force, including random drug testing. If the alleged problems were as common as some suggest, there should be security clearance, drug test and performance statistics that would, at least, give credence to such suspicions. To the best of my knowledge, no such statistics exist. If they do, they were never brought to my attention. As a result, I find statements like "keeping the valley green" personally and professionally offensive.

Throughout my tenure I worked to improve the [University of California's] record of providing opportunities for Hispanic and other ethnic and minority employees who work at Los Alamos and who are under-represented in management positions relative to their proportion of the total work force. I am confident that there are others who will continue to advocate for more opportunities for all of the Laboratory's minority and ethnic populations. And, I hope that the university and the Laboratory will cease using terms like "greening the valley" that result in stereotyping and profiling Hispanic employees and the Española Valley.

The term "keeping the valley green" as a surrogate for allegations of theft and a presumed connection to the drug problem in the Española Valley should either be immediately substantiated with evidence or publicly rejected by the University and the Laboratory.

--Matthew Thomas Vigil