Sludge Watch ==> EPA plans to close labs, drop scientists, reduce oversite

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

Sludgewatch Admin:

The news story about closing EPA labs and reducing oversight sends a chill 
through me.
It was this type of lab closure that led, in part, to the deaths of seven 
people and the illness of thousands from fecally contaminated drinking water 
in Walkerton Ontario 2001 . (ecoli 0157 and campylobactor)

The Ontario Government  closed all but one of the Ontario
Ministry of Environment laboratories.  Up to that point, all municipal 
drinking water was tested
in those provincial govt labs - free.  If they found a sample with water 
contamination the Ministry of Environment lab alerted the local medical 
officer of health as well as notifying the town or city staff, and 
provincial officials.

But with the labs closed, towns and cities sent water out to private labs, 
who had no obligation to notify Public Health officials.  So when 
Walkerton's water tested contaminated, no regulator was informed.

CBC :"Harris' government closed all provincial labs that tested drinking 
water. That forced towns like Walkerton to turn to private labs for testing 
and those private labs were not required to alert public health officials 
when problems were found. "
http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?category=Canada&story=/news/2001/06/29/harris010629

As food borne contamination skyrockets and environmental health issues 
increase due to aging infrastructure and severe weather events...this 
downsizing could be disasterous.

The public needs to be protected. Well funded and independent public 
agencies are critical to public health and well being.


.......................................................................

San Jose Mercury

Posted on Fri, Sep. 15, 2006



EPA plans to close labs, drop scientists and reduce oversight




By David Goldstein

McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT)

WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency intends to close labs, cut 
its cadre of upper-level scientists and reduce regulatory oversight, 
according to an internal agency document.

In a memo dated June 8, a top agency official outlined "a set of proposed 
disinvestments, innovations, efficiencies and consolidations" for the 
upcoming 2008 fiscal budget.

"The decisions we make will be critical, difficult and will have long-term 
consequences," EPA Chief Financial Officer Lyons Gray wrote.

He said the EPA wanted to limit duplication and find "opportunities for 
consolidation and streamlining." EPA assistant administrators, regional 
administrators, the general counsel and inspector general received the memo.

Gray called for creating "Centers of Excellence" within the agency that 
would manage "contracts, grants and human resource work."

Asked about the memo, the agency said in a statement, "The EPA is committed 
to being good stewards of our nation's environment and good stewards of our 
nation's tax dollars."

It said the agency hoped "to accelerate the pace of environmental protection 
by promoting environmental results and accountability, innovation and using 
the best available science."

Jeff Ruch, the executive director of Public Employees for Environmental 
Responsibility, a watchdog group that obtained the memo, said that rather 
than consolidating to improve the agency, the EPA was "chopping up the 
furniture to meet external budget targets."

The EPA's budget has been dropping steadily since it reached a record $8.13 
billion in fiscal 2003. The Bush administration's proposed fiscal 2007 
budget was nearly $1 billion lower, but Congress hasn't yet approved a final 
version. The fiscal 2008 budget plan is due in February. Gray said the 
financial outlook was "very challenging."

In his memo, he asked for plans to close at least 20 percent of the EPA's 16 
research laboratories by 2011 - a minimum 10 percent cut by 2009 and another 
10 percent by 2011.

He asked agency officials to suggest upper-level staff cuts, which would 
include scientists, analysts and managers. His memo hinted that more 
reductions could be necessary later.

Staff cuts could worsen what some experts have said is already a 
deteriorating situation, particularly with a significant number of EPA 
employees due to retire over the next decade.

M. Granger Morgan, the head of the Engineering and Policy Department at 
Carnegie Mellon University and the chairman of the EPA Science Advisory 
Board, told Congress in March, "The agency is in danger of losing core 
scientific expertise in both conventional and emerging environmental 
issues."

Morgan testified that research and development spending at the agency had 
fallen more than 16 percent since 2004.

A report in August from the EPA inspector general found that various studies 
have concluded that the agency doesn't always have reliable data to support 
its conclusions and "does not always use reliable science to support its 
rules and regulations."

Gray's memo also calls on the agency to work with state and tribal groups to 
look for ways to reduce regulatory oversight.

"The state and tribal grants have been reduced 25 percent since the 
administration started," said Heather Taylor, the deputy legislative 
director of the National Resources Defense Council, an environmental 
advocacy group. "First we take away the money to do their jobs, now we take 
away the oversight."

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