I need some advice/resources on how to, and when to become a whistle blower.
I recently found a possible microorganism (pink slime) in a pipe used to receive/transfer corn syrup into a bulk storage tank. The QA Manager told me to clean the pipe but not to swab the substance for analysis. The manager said that if we test it and it is confirmed to be a microorganism then we will have to take action.
The pipe was disassembled for cleaning, this granted us our first look into the bulk tank in years and its bad..real bad. The inside of the tank has not been cleaned in the 6+ years that I have been with the company. There is no kill step in our process (RTE confectionery products), I am told that the corn syrup is filtered before being pumped into the mixer but to my knowledge it is not monitored or cleaned in any way, no one could even show me were it is (not that this would reduce the hazard to an acceptable level anyways).
Multiple members of senior management are aware of the issue and no action is being taken to clean the inside of the tank or to assess the safety of the product that used contaminated corn syrup. As far as they are concerned, the issue has been resolved.
I tried to find a Lawyer (in New York State) that I could talk to but I didn't have any luck, does anyone know of any? I have no idea how to proceed in a way that doesn't put me in legal jeopardy.