Hunter
07/17/24
A whistleblower has filed suit against an alternative fuels plant in Marengo, saying the company lied to public officials before a December 2022 explosion that injured workers and caused a partial evacuation of the town.
The Gazette reports Tali Washburn, a Pottawattamie County woman who worked for the company C6-Zero as its government relations director, is now suing C6-Zero, six of its affiliates and several company officials in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.
Washburn was hired in March 2020. In mid-2021, she contacted the company’s CEO, general counsel and chief operating officer about what she believed to be safety issues, loan falsification, tax issues and “interference” with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Washburn then hired a former federal prosecutor as her own legal counsel.
Washburn also says she was told the company purchased a home from a Marengo city official whose responsibilities included approving C6-Zero’s safety plan. Her suit claims the purchase was put in someone else’s name to hide the company’s involvement in the transaction.
Washburn also alleges she was put on administrative leave and threatened with a lawsuit for defamation in January 2022. She was fired that July. Her lawsuit seeks damages for breach of contract, unpaid wages, fraudulent misrepresentation and civil conspiracy.
C6-Zero and others named in the suit have yet to file a response to the allegations. They are also being sued by the state for $1.5 million in costs to clean up contaminated water at the site. The case is due to go to trial later this year.