Lourdes T. Boschuk, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania; Order Prohibiting Involvement in NRC-Licensed Activities

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 75 (Monday, April 20, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19525-19526]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-10330]



[[Page 19525]]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[IA 98-020]


Lourdes T. Boschuk, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania; Order Prohibiting 
Involvement in NRC-Licensed Activities

I

    J&L Testing Company, Inc., (Licensee or JLT) is the holder of 
Byproduct Nuclear Material License No. 37-28442-02 issued by the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) pursuant to 10 CFR 
part 30. The license authorizes possession and use of Troxler portable 
nuclear gauges containing cesium-137 and americium-241 in sealed 
sources. The license, originally issued on February 7, 1995, was 
amended on August 22, 1995, and is due to expire on February 29, 2000. 
The License was suspended by Order, dated September 27, 1995. Lourdes 
T. Boschuk is the President and owner of JLT. Concurrently with this 
Order, the NRC is issuing an Order Revoking License to JLT (EA 96-110).

II

    Based on an NRC inspection and an investigation by the NRC's Office 
of Investigations, the NRC has determined that Ms. Boschuk, while 
President and owner of JLT,\1\ engaged in a pattern and practice of 
willfully violating NRC requirements and otherwise violated NRC 
requirements. Among such violations are the following:
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    \1\ Lourdes Boschuk is the wife of John Boschuk, Jr., President 
and Owner of J&L Engineering, Inc. (JLE). JLT and JLE are located at 
the same address and share the same telephone and facsimile numbers.
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A. Materially Inaccurate Statements Made to NRC

    (1) A letter accompanying JLT's Application for Material License 
for Troxler Nuclear Density Gauges, dated November 21, 1994, and signed 
by Lourdes Boschuk as President of JLT, represented to the NRC that 
since the revocation of J&L Engineering's License to operate the same 
Troxler gauges on August 30, 1993, the gauges had not been removed from 
storage or used in any way. In fact, JLT admittedly used a gauge on at 
least four occasions and invoiced customers for that use after 
revocation of the JLE license and before the NRC issued a license to 
JLT. JLT used the gauge for the following customers: DelSir Supply in 
December 1993, Johnson Construction in May 1994, Johnson Construction 
in June 1994, and PA Soil & Rock Company in July 1994. The materially 
inaccurate statement in the JLT application was in violation of 10 CFR 
30.9(a) and made with careless disregard for the facts by Ms. Boschuk.
    (2) A letter to the NRC dated September 11, 1995, signed by Lourdes 
Boschuk as President of JLT, stated that the Troxler gauge that was 
missing at the time of the NRC inspection on August 1, 1995, was in 
Watertown, New York; and was returned the next day. In fact, the gauge 
was transferred to SE Technologies, Inc., located in Bridgeville, 
Pennsylvania, in July 1995 and was not returned to JLT until August 17, 
1995. This statement was in violation of 10 CFR 30.9(a) and was made 
with careless disregard for the facts by Ms. Boschuk. In addition, the 
letter represented that since the NRC inspection on August 1, 1995, all 
three Troxler gauges were located in a locked storage cabinet at JLT's 
premises and would remain there until the apparent violations 
identified in the NRC's Inspection Report were resolved. In fact, one 
of the gauges had been transferred on September 6, 1995, to Cashin 
Associates, P.C. in New York State, and was not returned to JLT until 
September 19 or 20, 1995. This was an inaccurate statement in violation 
of 10 CFR 30.9(a) and was made by Ms. Boschuk with careless disregard 
for the facts.
    (3) During an enforcement conference with the NRC on September 15, 
1995, Lourdes Boschuk, as President of JLT, stated that JLT's operable 
Troxler gauge was in storage and had not been used. In fact, one of the 
gauges was transferred by JLT on September 6, 1995, to Cashin 
Associates, P.C. for use at the Brookhaven Landfill in New York State, 
and was not returned to JLT until September 19 or 20, 1995. This 
inaccurate statement was in violation of 10 CFR 30.9(a) and was made by 
Ms. Boschuk with careless disregard for the facts.
    (4) A letter to the NRC dated September 18, 1995, signed by Lourdes 
Boschuk as President of JLT, and sent to the NRC in response to the 
September 15, 1995, NRC letter confirming JLT's commitment at the 
September 15, 1995, enforcement conference to refrain from using the 
Troxler density gauges pending resolution of the apparent violations, 
made several materially inaccurate statements. The letter stated that 
all JLT's gauges have been in the storage cabinet on the JLT premises 
since the visit of the NRC inspector. This was a deliberately 
inaccurate statement by Ms. Boschuk in violation of 10 CFR 30.9(a) and 
30.10(a)(2). In fact, Ms. Boschuk knew no later than September 15, 
1995, during a telephone call with the Director of JLT, immediately 
after the September 15, 1995 enforcement conference, that one of JLT's 
Troxler gauges had been transferred on September 6, 1995 to Cashin 
Associates, P.C. in New York State.
    In addition, the letter stated that all three JLT Troxler gauges 
are currently locked in the designated storage cabinet on the JLT 
premises. This inaccurate statement was in violation of 10 CFR 30.9(a) 
and was made with at least careless disregard as to its truth or 
falsity by Ms. Boschuk. In fact, Lourdes Boschuk sent the JLT RSO to 
retrieve the gauge which had been transferred to Cashin Associates, 
P.C., but the RSO did not return to JLT with the gauge until late in 
the evening of September 19 or early in the morning of September 20, 
1995.

B. Destruction of Records Relating to Gauge Usage

    According to a witness, Lourdes Boschuk and others destroyed, 
altered, sanitized, or otherwise disposed of business and transactional 
records shortly after the August 1995 NRC inspection of JLT, in order 
to conceal from the NRC the unauthorized use and/or transfer of Troxler 
gauges by JLT. Among the records destroyed or disposed of were invoices 
and a log documenting use of the Troxler density gauges. According to a 
handwritten note, created by a JLT employee immediately after the 
September 15, 1995 enforcement conference, although utilization records 
were made available to the NRC inspector, those records could not be 
subsequently located. The note further reflected a question whether the 
utilization records were ``thrown away during sanitization of 
records?'' Shortly after the August 1995 inspection, the NRC inspector 
requested JLT to provide a copy of a utilization record found during 
the inspection and which documented the rental of a gauge to SE 
Technologies in September 1994, when neither JLE nor JLT had a valid 
NRC license. JLT did not provide the invoice and claimed it could no 
longer find the document. Condition 19 of JLT's License requires that 
JLT conduct its licensed activities in accordance with its Application 
dated January 6, 1995. The Application mandates that JLT comply with 
conditions requiring the creation of a utilization log for the gauges 
and the maintenance of the log for audit purposes. The destruction of 
the utilization log was in violation of the 10 CFR 30.3 and 30.9(a). 
The participation of Lourdes Boschuk in the deliberate destruction of 
the utilization log was in violation of 10 CFR 30.10(a).

[[Page 19526]]

III

    Based on the above, the NRC concludes that Lourdes Boschuk, 
President and owner of JLT, deliberately violated NRC requirements, and 
otherwise committed willful violations of NRC requirements. These 
violations raise a serious doubt as to whether Ms. Boschuk can be 
relied upon to comply with NRC requirements and to provide complete and 
accurate information to the NRC. The NRC must rely upon the integrity 
of persons involved in licensed activities, especially owners and 
officials of NRC licensees. Deliberate misconduct of the type 
demonstrated by Ms. Boschuk cannot be tolerated. Notwithstanding the 
revocation of the JLT license, given Ms. Boschuk's repeated failures to 
adhere to regulatory requirements, the NRC no longer has the necessary 
assurance that Ms. Boschuk's participation in licensed activities would 
be performed safely and in accordance with requirements.
    Consequently, I lack the requisite reasonable assurance that 
licensed activities can be conducted in compliance with the 
Commission's requirements and that the health and safety of the public 
will be protected if Ms. Boschuk were permitted at this time to be 
involved in NRC-licensed activities. Therefore, the public health, 
safety and interest require that Ms. Boschuk be prohibited from any 
involvement in NRC-licensed activities for a period of five years from 
the date of this Order, and if she is currently involved with another 
licensee in NRC-licensed activities, she must immediately cease such 
activities, and inform the NRC of the name, address and telephone 
number of the licensee, and provide a copy of this Order to the 
licensee. Additionally, Ms. Boschuk is required to notify the NRC of 
her first employment or involvement in NRC-licensed activities 
following the prohibition period.

IV

    Accordingly, pursuant to sections 81, 161b, 161i, 161o, 182 and 186 
of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Commission's 
regulations in 10 CFR 2.202, 10 CFR 30.10, and 10 CFR 150.20, it is 
hereby ordered that:
    1. For a period of five years from the date of this Order, Ms. 
Boschuk is prohibited from engaging in NRC-licensed activities. NRC-
licensed activities are those activities that are conducted pursuant to 
a specific or general license issued by the NRC, including, but not 
limited to, those activities of Agreement State licensees conducted in 
areas of NRC jurisdiction pursuant to the authority granted by 10 CFR 
150.20.
    2. For a period of five years from the date of this Order, Ms. 
Boschuk shall provide a copy of this Order to any prospective employer 
or business partner who engages in NRC-licensed activities (as 
described in Section IV.1 above) prior to her acceptance of any 
employment (whether involved in licensed activities or not) by, or 
partnership or ownership interest in, a licensee (as described in 
Section IV.1 above). The purpose of this requirement is to ensure that 
the licensee is aware of Ms. Boschuk's prohibition from engaging in 
NRC-licensed activities.
    3. The first time Ms. Boschuk is employed in NRC-licensed 
activities, or acquires a partnership or ownership interest in a 
licensee (as described in Section IV.1 above), following the five year 
prohibition in Section IV.1, above, she shall notify the Regional 
Administrator, NRC Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, 
Pennsylvania 19406, prior to acquiring such an interest or prior to 
engaging in NRC-licensed activities, including activities under an 
Agreement State license when activities under that license are 
conducted in areas of NRC jurisdiction pursuant to 10 CFR 150.20. The 
notice shall include the name, address, and telephone number of the NRC 
or Agreement State licensee and the location where licensed activities 
will be performed.
    The Director, Office of Enforcement, may, in writing, relax or 
rescind any of the above conditions upon demonstration by the Licensee 
of good cause.

V

    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202, Ms. Boschuk must, and any other 
person adversely affected by this Order may, submit an answer to this 
Order and may request a hearing on this Order, within 20 days of the 
date of this Order. Where good cause is shown, consideration will be 
given to extending the time to request a hearing. A request for 
extension of time must be made in writing to the Director, Office of 
Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, 
and include a statement of good cause for the extension. The answer may 
consent to this Order. Unless the answer consents to this Order, the 
answer shall, in writing and under oath or affirmation, specifically 
admit or deny each allegation or charge made in this Order and shall 
set forth the matters of fact and law on which Ms. Boschuk or other 
person adversely affected relies and the reasons as to why the Order 
should not have been issued. Any answer or request for a hearing shall 
be submitted to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Attn: Chief, Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff, Washington, DC 20555. 
Copies also shall be sent to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, to the Deputy 
Assistant General Counsel for Enforcement at the same address, to the 
Regional Administrator, NRC Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of 
Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406, to Ms. Boschuk if the answer or hearing 
request is by a person other than Ms. Boschuk. If a person other than 
Ms. Boschuk requests a hearing, that person shall set forth with 
particularity the manner in which his or her interest is adversely 
affected by this Order and shall address the criteria set forth in 10 
CFR 2.714(d).
    If a hearing is requested by Ms. Boschuk or a person whose interest 
is adversely affected, the Commission will issue an Order designating 
the time and place of any hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to 
be considered at such hearing shall be whether this Order should be 
sustained.
    In the absence of any request for hearing, or written approval of 
an extension of time in which to request a hearing, the provisions 
specified in Section IV above shall be final 20 days from the date of 
this Order without further order or proceedings. If an extension of 
time for requesting a hearing has been approved, the provisions 
specified in Section IV shall be final when the extension expires if a 
hearing request has not been received.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 10th day of April 1998.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James Lieberman,
Director, Office of Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 98-10330 Filed 4-17-98; 8:45 am]
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