An employee of the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has filed a complaint against the agency, alleging that the Bureau is allowing illegal activities to occur on federal public lands in Nevada. Dan Patterson, a BLM employee, was suspended after making the complaint, which describes what he believes to be multiple violations of the law.
Patterson says that he spent two years trying to voice his concerns to his supervisors at the BLM. He filed his complaint when it became clear to him that his supervisors were not listening to what he had been trying to tell them. Dan Patterson provides valuable insight into the hearts and minds of whistleblowers. He explains that public employees are not likely to make a whistleblower complaint until they have put significant effort into pursuing their concerns with those who are in a position to address them and have come up empty-handed.
Some of the activities described by Patterson in his complaint are being carried out by mining and resource extraction companies. For example, a mining company was allowed to deviate from the operating procedures that are prescribed by law. The mining company applied for and received a permit to make a toxic pit lake. The standard procedure would have required the company to use a less hazardous method to perform the same function, albeit at a higher cost.
Other instances of misuse of public lands that Patterson alleges in his complaint apply to individuals or groups of people. For example, five prominent individuals who refer to themselves as “the five jokers” hold a mining claim on public lands. There are no mining or exploration activities taking place on the property, but there are vacation homes. Patterson says that the law limits what a person may do on land held as a mining claim and that developing the area as a vacation property does not fit within the activities that are allowed.
Dan Patterson is aware of other instances of misuse taking place on public lands. He is unable to access the emails, documents, and other information that he would have to provide to support those additional allegations. Patterson says that his inability to obtain those materials is part of a larger scheme that is at work within the BLM, where the agency encourages its employees to engage in telephone conversations instead of email conversations to prevent employees from keeping records of their discussions.
The nature of the structure and staffing of many agencies like the BLM adds to the difficulty agency employees often encounter when trying to approach agency management with their concerns. The BLM does not have a permanent director. Many positions within the BLM and other agencies within the Department of the Interior are filled with political appointees. The BLM has been around for a long time, but it is currently experiencing more political pressure than it has at any other time in the past.
Dan Patterson was suspended after he tried to speak with management about his concerns and eventually made a whistleblower complaint against his employer. If you have attempted to bring concerns to the attention of management and you have experienced retaliation after reporting a concern, we may be able to help you. To learn more, call the Mississippi Whistleblower Attorney at Barrett Law PLLC today at 1 (800) 707-9577 to set up an initial consultation.