Administration -- The Polluting Of The Environmental Protection Agency

May 8, 2008

by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, Ali Frick, Benjamin Armbruster, and Brad Johnson

ADMINISTRATION

The Polluting Of The Environmental Protection Agency

Former attorney general Alberto Gonzales brought disgrace to the Department of Justice, putting loyalty to the President above duty to the country, until the weight of numerous scandals forced his resignation in August 2007. As The New York Times described, he left "a Justice Department that has been tainted by political influence, depleted by the departures of top officials and weakened by sapped morale." Disturbing parallels can now be seen in Stephen L. Johnson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which President Nixon set up in 1970 to be an independent watchdog for the health of the environment and people. It has become clear that Johnson has subverted that mission, in contravention of science, ethics, and the law. In an oversight hearing yesterday on the politicization of the EPA, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) directly drew the comparison, as McClatchy Newspapers reported. "The last few times Mr. Johnson has appeared before us, he has been less than forthcoming, as evasive and unresponsive as Alberto Gonzales," Whitehouse said. He added that the forced resignation of EPA regional administrator Mary Gade, who had been investigating dioxin contamination in Michigan by Dow Chemical, "smacks of the U.S. Attorney scandal at the Justice Department last summer." Like the nine fired U.S. attorneys, Gade was well-regarded and had received strong performance evaluations. As Whitehouse observed, "[H]er forced resignation reeks of political interference."

MARY GADE'S DISMISSAL: Mary Gade, the EPA's Midwest regional administrator who resigned last Thursday, laid the blame on her ongoing efforts to compel Dow Chemical to clean up its decades-old dioxin pollution from its flagship plant in Midland, MI. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Gade said, "There is no question this is about Dow." Committee Chair John Dingell (D-MI) has announced that he "is concerned about this and has asked his oversight staff to look into it." Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) has "asked for a meeting with the Administrator of EPA so that I can better understand why Ms. Gade has been placed on administrative leave." Gade is a lifelong Republican who supported President Bush's candidacy in 2000. Yet, as Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Robert Sussman describes, she was known as "one of the most seasoned and experienced environmental policy-makers in the country." Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), in contrast, called Gade "unprofessional, vindictive and insulting." Camp represents Dow Chemical's home district and owns hundreds of thousands of dollars in Dow stock.

WHITE HOUSE CONTROL: Recent congressional investigations have exposed the degree to which the White House is exerting control over the actions of the EPA. One of the key responsibilities of the EPA is to protect Americans from exposure to toxic chemicals. Last week, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) released a damning report that exposed how toxic chemical "assessments are being undermined by secrecy and White House involvement." With assistance from the EPA's top scientific official, Dr. George Gray, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) controls the assessment process, using the "deliberative process privilege" to prevent public oversight. Gray previously ran the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, an industry-funded think tank founded by John D. Graham in 1990 that fights environmental regulation. Until 2006, Graham served as the Bush administration's regulatory gatekeeper in the OMB Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs where he repeatedly subverted health, safety and environmental safeguards. Johnson's EPA is riddled with officials with direct ties to the OMB, including the EPA's number-two official, Marcus Peacock, who worked in the OMB until 2005, and assistant administrator Christopher Bliley, who was OMB director Jim Nussle's chief of staff when Nussle served in Congress.

'ORWELLIAN' TACTICS: In the words of Boxer, Gray used "Alice in Wonderland" language to "defend the indefensible." She took particular offense at his claim that the EPA's regulatory process was "very transparent," considering that it involves a series of secret inter-agency reviews. Gray also repeatedly hearkened back to "scientific uncertainty" to describe Johnson's justification for setting standards for ozone and fine particulate matter pollution its scientific advisory boards said were not adequate to protect public health. However, as Dr. George Thurston testified, "In the face of uncertainty, the Clean Air Act stipulates that the Administrator must choose a more stringent standard, to ensure a margin of safety." Whitehouse -- who praised Gray "for his ability to say what I found to be preposterous things with a completely straight face" -- described Gray's treatment of toxicologist Dr. Deborah Rice as "Orwellian." In 2007, Rice was the chair of an expert peer review panel charged with setting safe exposure levels for deca-BDE, a toxic fire retardant that contaminates human blood and breast milk. The American Chemistry Council (ACC), acting on behalf of the Brominated Flame Retardant Industry Partnership, wrote to Gray to ask that he personally intervene in the process. ACC alleged that the panel is not an "independent, third-party review" because Dr. Rice is a "fervent advocate of banning deca-BDE." Rice was removed from the panel and her comments stripped because of "the perception of a potential conflict of interest."

CIVIL RIGHTS -- MICHIGAN HIGH COURT RULES AGAINST BENEFITS FOR GAY PARTNERS: In a 5-2 decision, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled yesterday that "a 2004 ban against gay marriage also blocks governments and state universities from offering health insurance to the partners of gay workers." Nearly 20 public universities, community colleges, school districts, and local governments in Michigan have "benefits policies covering at least 375 gay couples," with some of the plans beginning as far back as the early 1990s." Last year, universities and local governments "rewrote their policies to try to comply with the gay marriage ban," so it is currently "unclear" how the court's decision will affect those new policies. Dissenting from the majority, Justice Marilyn Kelly wrote: "First the language of the amendment itself prohibits nothing more than the recognition of same-sex marriages of similar unions. It is a perversion of the amendment's language to conclude that, by voluntarily offering the benefits at issue, a public employer recognizes a union similar to marriage."

ETHICS -- KBR REHIRED EMPLOYEE WITH HISTORY OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY: Earlier this week, Ira Waltrip, an employee for Iraq contractor KBR, was formally charged with possession of child pornography. According to a court affidavit, Waltrip was first caught with such materials in 2006 and fired from KBR. However, KBR rehired Waltrip before the year ended, and he returned to Baghdad, as well as his past behavior. In the U.S. District Court in Austin, where Waltrip has been charged with possession of child pornography, "U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Pitman appeared dismayed that Waltrip was rehired," the Austin Statesman reported. The latest scandal further illustrates KBR's refusal to hold employees accountable for their actions. Last week, a former employee testified that a camp manager caught stealing from Iraqi palaces was promoted by KBR, rather than disciplined. Even more disturbingly, more than thee dozen women who worked for KBR have come forward saying they were assaulted by coworkers while stationed in Iraq. The alleged assailants will likely never face a jury, and KBR is determined to settle these allegations in private arbitration, without "public record nor transcript of the proceedings." In fact, Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) told a story that one KBR employee who told her superiors she was raped found her rapist assigned to work next to her just days later.

MILITARY -- JOINT CHIEFS CHAIR SAYS MILITARY READY TO REPEAL 'DON'T ASK DON'T TELL': On Sunday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen told graduating cadets at the U.S. Military Academy that the military was ready to accept gay servicemembers if Congress repeals the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) policy. "It's a law, and we follow it," Mullen said. Should the law change, the military will carry that out too," he said. Mullen's statement is a refreshing change from the rhetoric that has come from other Bush administration officials. In March 2007, then-Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Peter Pace stated publicly that homosexuality is "immoral" and that he supported DADT because "we should not condone immoral acts." Mullen is also reflecting the growing rejection of DADT among the public and the military. A 2004 poll found that a majority of junior enlisted servicemembers believed gays and lesbians should be allowed to service openly in the military, up from 16 percent in 1992. The Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which would lift the ban on openly gay servicemembers, currently has the support of 142 lawmakers.

Marriott International is considering opening a hotel in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone in response "to a request from U.S. government officials who are eager to help revive Iraq with foreign investment and economic activity." The company’s chief executive, Bill Marriott, is said to be "considering the deal but is concerned about safety issues."

According to Pentagon records, "[m]ore than 43,000 U.S. troops listed as medically unfit for combat in the weeks before their scheduled deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2003 were sent anyway." Veterans groups say this "reliance on troops found medically 'non-deployable' is another sign of stress placed on a military that has sent 1.6 million servicemembers to the war zones."

Yesterday, Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) called on Office of Special Counsel chief Scott Bloch to resign, "one day after nearly two dozen FBI agents raided OSC headquarters" in a probe of Bloch's activities. "[I]t's hard to believe he can continue to operate effectively," Davis said.

Humanitarian groups have said that "[e]ntire sections of Baghdad's embattled Sadr City district have been largely abandoned by civilians fleeing a US-led showdown with Shi'ite militias." The agencies have reported that "[l]acking adequate food or medicine, many of the evacuees and those still besieged in their homes are seeking help."

"The White House and Senate Republicans signaled Tuesday that they would allow an up-or-down vote on Republican FEC nominee Hans von Spakovsky, clearing the way for possible confirmation of other nominees to the agency." Democrats had demanded the chance to vote on Spakovsky separately from other judicial nominees.

In March, consumer borrowing rose "at the fastest pace in four months, more than double the increase of the previous month, in what was seen as a sign of rising economic stress." The increase in consumer debt also hit $15.3 billion at an annual rate in March, "much bigger than the $6 billion increase that economists had been expecting."

"Americans rank last in a new National Geographic-sponsored survey released Wednesday that compares environmental consumption habits in 14 countries," as U.S. residents were the "least likely to choose the greener option in three out of four categories -- housing, transportation and consumer goods."

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt "acknowledged gaps in the capability of U.S. hospitals to deal with a mass-casualty terrorist attack or other disaster" yesterday, but they supported President Bush's proposed deep cuts in Medicaid funding. House Democrats called the cuts "irresponsible" because they would further weaken emergency rooms.

And finally: Yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) appeared on "The Daily Show," where he joked that his Secret Service Code name is "jerk." During the taping, McCain pretended to walk off the set when host Jon Stewart "pressed him on whether President Bush is more of a liability for him than the Rev. Jeremiah Wright is for Obama. Then McCain fiddled with his microphone and mouthed 'technical difficulties' into the camera.”

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"Army Secretary Pete Geren said Wednesday at Fort Bragg that the Army has appropriated $248 million in emergency funds to fix problems found during inspections of 148,000 rooms at bases worldwide over the past two weeks."

MINNESOTA: Proposal "would let homeowners delay foreclosure for one year -- but only if they keep paying at least 65 percent of their monthly mortgage payment."

WYOMING: The community of Boulder, "with a population of just 75 people, has one thing in common with major metropolitan areas: air pollution thick enough to pose health risks."

GEORGIA: Critics of Gov. Sonny Perdue's (R) new health insurance plan "say the working poor don't have the money to pay even lower premiums" in the plan or "the extra money to deposit into health savings accounts."

THINK PROGRESS: Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) derides torture critics as advocating "Oprah Winfrey methods."

WONK ROOM: Debunking President Bush's misinformed housing veto threat.

OBSIDIAN WINGS: The New Republic's Jamie Kirchick presents "a textbook example of writing an argument first and finding support later."

EMPTY WHEEL: The Electronic Frontier Foundation scores a victory against the Bush administration over the national security letters.

"But, the official said, a situation could arise in which Bush may have to waive the law's restrictions to carry out his responsibilities to protect national security. He cited as an example a 'ticking time bomb' scenario."
-- Senior administration official, 1/4/06, explaining Bush's signing statement waiving a torture ban

VERSUS

"I know of one [ticking time bomb scenario]. It's on the show 24. And that's the only one I know of."
-- Marjorie Cohn, President, National Lawyers Guild, 5/6/08

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