Dr. Ward Stone is an expert on disease, pollution, and toxins. Most recently, he is studying possible contamination at the Lafarge plant.
"Guilty of sleeping here, yes I'm guilty of that," said Dr. Ward. "But shooting the deer, no. Being a great pathologist, I think I've been a great pathologist."
Sunday morning's Times Union article cites DEC documents and interviews with former co-workers where one subordinate describes a 2005 incident where Stone killed penned-in deer on the property.
"They talked about deer bring gut shot," said Dr Ward. "I did not shoot into the gut of the deer, on purpose at all."
He says they were studying chronic wasting disease at the time. And was afraid the deer would spread it.
The article goes on to allege that Stone created a hostile workplace, used staff for private work, even verbally assaulted those he worked with, all according to former co-workers.
He says he is not surprised those people are saying such things.
"I have problems with them now, even before this article," he said. "Because they aren't good enough to be in pathology."
Then there are allegations he lived where he worked. The paper cited an Inspector General Investigation and co-worker testimony. He said he worked late, but didn't live there.
"It was not unusual for me to be here every night and be up late and have a sleeping pad and put that down," he said.
The article also said that the Inspector General has vowed to look into these allegations. We reached out to his office but did not hear back.
A spokesperson for the State IG's office says an investigation is currently underway.
