EPA Staffers Were Forced to Ignore Science, Investigation Finds

Environmental Protection Agency staffers have been forced to ignore relevant science, have lacked key monitoring data on human health and environmental impacts, and have worked without crucial information needed to protect the public, according to the preliminary findings of a scientific advisory board.

The Committee on Science Integration for Decision Making is still working on its investigation, but has quietly posted draft summaries on the agency's Web site of 73 interviews with 450 EPA employees -- an unusual bottom-up examination that could bring sweeping changes to the 40-year-old federal agency. Some staffers traced the problems in the agency to the Bush administration, while others said the obstacles are longstanding and continue to this day.

EPA has an enormous mandate -- protecting air, water, land and human health from environmental pollutants. While some staffers gave the agency high marks, the interviews overall portray an organization that has been hobbled by political pressure to avoid damaging industry; has lacked sufficient scientists in regional offices; has been slow to act against known hazards, and has had a tendency to let products with harmful pollutants enter the marketplace and the environment without first ensuring their safety.

The review of the EPA followed accusations by a former agency official that President George W. Bush had pressured agency employees to water down concerns of global climate change, a Government Accountability Office report criticizing the agency's toxic chemical review process, and stern recommendations by the National Research Council, a division of the National Academy of Sciences.

In response, the committee, made up of academics, industry scientists, and government officials from outside EPA, was launched in 2008 by Stephen L. Johnson, who served as agency chief during Bush's second term. Pointing out that the environmental agency was "perceived to lack a strong scientific foundation," Johnson asked the panel to explore how the EPA can improve its use of science. EPA administrator Lisa Jackson endorsed the committee and its work began in earnest.

"Unfortunately the reality through the years, both those that Democrats were in charge and the years the Republicans were in charge, was, if you agreed with a decision, it was great science and not politicized, and if you disagreed with a decision, then the science was politicized," Johnson told Politics Daily. "Anything I and the agency can do now to increase that foundation of science and better integrate the science in decision making, I believe that the public is better served."

As part of its mission, the committee -- informally called the Science Advisory Board -- interviewed scores of EPA staffers from around the country between October 2009 and February 2010. To encourage open discussion, managers were generally interviewed separately from the rest of the staff. Many of the panel's interviews were conducted in groups. Although the committee listed the names of everyone in each group, in most cases they did not reveal who said what.

Some participants noted "the chilling effect of management decisions made with the expectation that science would be 'ginned up' to support decisions already made," according to a committee summary. One high-level EPA official charged that "the science review is used to create long-term loops that keep us from getting the latest information implemented in the field." Another staffer said decisions on how to regulate air pollutants were "influenced more by politics than by science."

One scientist who was interviewed believes the agency has been too eager to endorse new technologies or new uses of chemicals. As an example, she cited the EPA's support of tire crumb, shredded tires used to line playgrounds to keep kids from being injured if they fall. Tire crumb can contain arsenic, cadmium, and other metals and toxic substances. Although EPA in December said the material was safe, this scientist told investigators, "Tire crumb, for example, should have been evaluated more fully before EPA supported its use for children's playgrounds and ball fields...The result is a costly effort "post hoc" to assess children's exposures to tire crumb waste, a problem that could have been prevented."