Re: EPA scientists complain about political pressure/ Whistleblower Protection

[Guest guest]

KC -

This is a travesty. Most " professions " are bound by a code of conduct

for their comportment and honesty in testing and reporting as well as

a duty to report that which is not honest.

This appears to be " top-down " which breeds a " hostile work

environment " for those scientists who spent 4 years in college, years

in grad school, perhaps a doctorate, and the confidence in a reputable

government job.

The U.S. citizens look to the CDC, the EPA, the OSHA regs and NIOSH as

government organizations which purport integrity and honest reporting

for the health, welfare and safety.

Stronger Whistleblower protection is needed to shield these workers

from being forced to taint their findings. It flies in the face of

what this country is all about.

This applies to Industrial Hygienists as well. They have a code which

binds them, and, unfortunately they need to be reminded that they are

held to a " higher authority " and, perhaps if the " managers " were

reported for unethical behavior to the regulating or credential

certifying organization, they would be less apt to encourage such

unsavory behavior.

If the government ratifies this unethical behavior, perhaps the

organizations that regulate them, can hold them in check.

2008 ©

>

> 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.

>