EPA scientists complain about political pressure

[Guest guest]

EPA scientists complain about political pressure

The Associated Press*

By H. JOSEF HEBERT –

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jiG8PT3cEiOqXFkMJuutD97RCoeQD907NR

L00

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hundreds of Environmental Protection Agency

scientists say they have been pressured by superiors to skew their

findings, according to a survey released Wednesday by an advocacy

group.

The Union of Concerned Scientists said more than half of the nearly

1,600 EPA staff scientists who responded online to a detailed

questionnaire reported they had experienced incidents of political

interference in their work.

EPA spokesman Shradar attributed some of the discontent to

the " passion " scientists have toward their work. He said EPA

Administrator , as a longtime career scientist at the

EPA himself, " weighs heavily the science given to him by the staff

in making policy decisions. "

But Francesca Grifo, director of the Union of Concerned Scientists'

Scientific Integrity Program, said the survey results revealed " an

agency in crisis " and " under siege from political pressures "

especially among scientists involved in risk assessment and crafting

regulations.

" The investigation shows researchers are generally continuing to do

their work, but their scientific findings are tossed aside when it

comes time to write regulations, " said Grifo.

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., in a letter sent Wednesday to ,

called the survey results disturbing and said they " suggest a

pattern of ignoring and manipulating science. " He said he planned to

pursue the issue at an upcoming hearing by his Oversight and

Government Reform Committee where is scheduled to testify.

The group sent an online questionnaire to 5,500 EPA scientists and

received 1,586 responses, a majority of them senior scientists who

have worked for the agency for 10 years or more. The survey included

chemists, toxicologists, engineers, geologists and experts in the

life and environmental sciences.

The report said 60 percent of those responding, or 889 scientists,

reported personally experiencing what they viewed as political

interference in their work over the last five years. Four in 10

scientists who have worked at the agency for more than a decade said

they believe such interference has been more prevalent in the last

five years than in the previous five years.

Donaghy, one of the report's co-authors, acknowledged that a

large number of scientists did not respond to the survey and said

the findings should not be viewed as a random sample of EPA

scientists.

Nevertheless, said Donaghy, " we have hundreds of scientists saying

there is a problem " with assuring scientific integrity within the

federal government's principal environmental regulatory agency.

Asked to respond to the survey, EPA spokesman Shradar said, " We have

the best scientists in the world at EPA. "

The EPA has been under fire from members of Congress on a number of

fronts including its delay in determining whether carbon dioxide

should be regulated to combat global warming. also has been

criticized for rejecting recommendations from science advisory

boards on a number of air pollution issues including control of

mercury from power plants and how much to reduce smog pollution.

In the survey, the EPA scientists described an agency suffering from

low morale as senior managers and the White House Office of

Management and Budget frequently second-guess scientific findings

and change work conducted by EPA's scientists, the report said.

The survey covered employees at EPA headquarters, in each of the

agency's 10 regions around the country and at more than a dozen

research laboratories. The highest number of complaints about

political interference came from scientists who are directly

involved in writing regulations and those who conduct risk

assessments such as determining a chemical cancer risk for humans.

Nearly 400 scientists said they had witnessed EPA officials

misrepresenting scientific findings, 284 said they had seen

the " selective or incomplete use of data to justify a specific

regulatory outcome " and 224 scientists said they had been directed

to " inappropriately exclude or alter technical information " in an

EPA document.

Nearly 200 of the respondents said they had been in situations where

they or their colleagues actively objected to or resigned from

projects " because of pressure to change scientific findings. "

Donaghy said EPA management was aware of the survey, conducted by

the Center for Survey Statistics & Methodology at Iowa State

University. He said while some EPA managers initially instructed

employees not to participate, the EPA's general counsel's office

later sent an e-mail to employees saying they could participate on

their private time.