PEEReview

A Publication of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility

Polar Oil Stampede Tramples Arctic Wildlife
I
n its final months, the Bush administration is push-
ing to open vast areas of the Arctic Ocean to oil
Spring and gas development. Standing in the way are the
federal scientists who were supposed to prepare the
2008 environmental reviews needed to clear the way for
lease sales in the Chukchi, Beaufort and Bering Seas.
At stake are the fates of marine species, including the
polar bear, the endangered bowhead whale, Pacific
walrus, seals, threatened eider, and a host of other ma-
rine birds and fish.
These conscientious specialists have come to PEER
for help. Armed with their files, PEER is releasing a
torrent of internal e-mails and documents from Inte-
rior scientists raising troubling questions about how Yukon Refuge Oil Rush
badly environmental assessments of Arctic offshore A massive land-for-oil swap in the Yukon Flats
oil development were skewed. These e-mails have fu- National Wildlife Refuge will open much of east-
eled lawsuits that threaten to stymie new lease sales. ern Alaska up to petroleum development. The
land exchange is moving quickly despite the ab-
The Interior Department is scrambling to stanch the
sence of any land appraisals for the more than
flow of dissent from its own scientists that undermines
half-million acres involved. One estimate pegs
the legality of its aggressive offshore oil and gas lease
potential Yukon oil resources at one-third the size
program. The e-mails demolish Bush administration
of Alaska’s largest North Slope field.
claims that environmental risks to Arctic waters were
adequately considered prior to offering tracts for drill- Yukon Flats is considered one of the greatest wa-
ing. Reflecting this mounting concern, Interior’s Min- terfowl breeding grounds in North America, lo-
erals Management Service (MMS), issued this order cated on the eastern side of the state along the Ca-
to all employees: nadian border and bisected by the Yukon River.
“…we have been di- Currently, there is no oil development in the re-
rected to refrain from gion. The trade would put the refuge’s most com-
discussing the PEER mercially promising areas under corporate con-
press releases and the trol and facilitate pipelines to carry oil and gas
e-mail messages with to market, according to a protest filed by PEER.
anyone outside our or- The Draft Environmental Impact Statement for
ganization including the exchange outlines a panoply of potential det-
any representative with rimental impacts, including higher air pollution,
the media.” discharge of greenhouse gases, “excessive draw
down of surface waters,” loss of wetlands from
Interior’s lawyers are try-
drainage to build oil platforms, as well as threats
ing to prevent further
continued on page 12
continued on page 12

u Nationwide Lead Paint Settlement, page 3

INSIDE u
u
Grand Canyon Green-Wash, page 6
Appeals Court Rules for U.S. Park Police Chief Chambers, page 7
 From the Executive Director
On Reaching Age 15 and the Idealism of Youth
L
ater this year, PEER will celebrate its 15th birthday, and
like any other teenager, we still have a strong sense of mor-
al certitude. In our case, we struggle with other “green”
organizations which, in our view, compromise ideals to cut deals.
While I often refer to the biodiversity of the environmental move-
ment (some groups are slow and consensus-driven while others
are intensely political and still others require access to the halls of
power to thrive), we recently had an experience that raised some
hackles. PEER was invited into a coalition to help codify the Na-
tional Landscape Conservation System. Unbeknownst to us, the
major environmental organization financing the coalition had cut
a deal to exclude one fourth of the system (see “BLM’s Six Mil-
lion-Acre Sleight of Hand” on page 11) to satisfy the local Re-
publican Congressperson Rep. Mary Bono Mack. Even though
the coalition was and still is nominally committed to including all
27 million acres in the National Landscape Conservation System,
the coalition organizer was working behind the scenes to keep the
crown jewel of that system, the California Desert Conservation
Area, out of it.
Alerted by angry BLM employees in California, PEER blew the
whistle on the deal. That generated publicity that was embarrass-
Mission Statement
PEER protects public employees who protect our environment. We are a service organization for local, state, federal
and tribal law enforcement officers, scientists, land managers and other professionals dedicated to upholding
environmental laws and values. Through PEER, public servants can choose to work as “anonymous activists” so
that public agencies must confront the message, rather than the messenger.
PEER Refuge Keeper • P.O. Box 359 Aurora, NY 13026
tel: 315-364-7495 fax: 315-364-7810 email: refugekeeper@peer.org
California PEER • PO Box 4057, Georgetown, CA 95634
tel: 530-333-2545 fax: 530-333-1113 email: capeer@peer.org
Florida PEER • P.O. Box 14463 Tallahassee, FL 32317-4463
tel: 850-877-8097 fax: 850-942-5264 email: flpeer@peer.org
New England PEER • P.O. Box 574 North Easton, MA 02356
tel: 508-230-9933 fax: 508-230-2110 email: nepeer@peer.org
New Jersey PEER • P.O. Box 1 Ringoes, NJ 08551
tel & fax: 609-397-8213 email: njpeer@peer.org
Rocky Mountain PEER • P.O. Box 280396 Lakewood, CO 80228
tel: 303-316-0809 fax: 303-322-4689 email: rmpeer@peer.org
Southwest PEER •738 N. 5th Ave., #210, Tucson AZ 85705
tel: 520-906-2159 email: swpeer@peer.org
Tennessee PEER • 4443 Pecan Valley Road Nashville, TN 37218
tel: 615-313-7066 email: tnpeer@peer.org
Alaska Forum for Environmental Responsibility
P.O. Box 188 Valdez, AK 99686 tel: 907-835-5460 fax: 907-835-5410
 PEEReview
ing to both the big organization and to Rep. Bono Mack. In re-
sponse, PEER was summarily banished from the coalition by this
same group that recruited us to join. Then they bought a half-page
newspaper ad to laud Rep. Bono Mack for her “leadership on the
National Landscape Conservation System.”
Kicking PEER out of their club was an impotent act of retaliation
that does not affect us one whit. But this tempest in a teapot is
indicative of a mindset often seen here “Inside the Beltway” that
causes grassroots groups across the country to gag in disgust.
Let me be clear, PEER does not strive for access or influence – our
only goal is rendering faithful and effective service to conscien-
tious public servants struggling to make the planet better. We do
not trade off employees’ concerns to be better liked, either on or
off Capitol Hill. As our motto says, PEER protects those who
protect our environment. Our purpose is clear and that is what
steers our conduct.
So, to many, this means that we have still not grown up and we
are not invited into the back rooms where the cynical “grown ups”
gather. So be it. For when we have lost our driving idealism, we
will have lost our way.
— Jeff Ruch
PEER DC Headquarters Staff
Executive Director • Jeff Ruch
Associate Director • Carol Goldberg
Legal • Paula Dinerstein & Adam Draper
Development • Angela Welsh
Membership • Justin Haas
PEEReview Layout • Dana Serovy
PEER Board
Chair • Howard Wilshire (USGS, retired)
Member • Frank Buono (National Park Service, retired)
Member • Louis Clark (G.A.P. President)
Member • Dr. Adam Finkel (former OSHA Executive)
Member • Magi Shapiro (Army Corps, retired)
PEEReview is the quarterly newslettter of
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
2000 P Street, NW • Suite 240 • Washington, D.C. 20036
tel: 202-265-7337 • fax: 202-265-4192
email: info@peer.org • website: http://www.peer.org
 Environmental Protection Agency
Lead-Safe Rules to Protect 1.4 Million Kids a Year
I
n one of its most far-reaching regulatory initiatives, the Bush
administration adopted rules requiring that repairs and renova-
tions in pre-1978 housing and child-care facilities are done in
a lead-safe manner. These lead-safe repair and renovation rules
were finalized under a settlement of a lawsuit brought by PEER.
An estimated 20 to 30 million older-home repair projects each
year are done without lead-safe cleanup practices. In February
2000, the President’s Task Force on Environmental Health Risks
and Safety Risks to Children found that—
• Lead-safe renovation practices are the key to protecting
the largest number of children;
• Dust and soil tainted by lead paint are now the main sourc-
es of childhood lead exposure; and
• The benefits of eliminating these lead paint hazards far
outweigh the costs.
Low Ebb at EPA
The mildest modifier one can use to describe the current
state of EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson is embattled.
Johnson is undergoing one of the most painful political au-
topsies in memory over his decision to deny California’s
requested waiver to regulate greenhouse gases, contrary
to staff advice that he was legally required to grant it. Con-
gressional subpoenas have been issued for his briefing
documents and communications from the White House.
EPA’s General Counsel abruptly resigned. Johnson is now
resorting to what is called “the Alberto Gonzales defense”
– failing to recall much of anything. Meanwhile, his key
staff has been deposed under oath by congressional in-
vestigators and, in an ironic twist, EPA is demanding to see
the transcripts to make sure their testimony is “accurate
and complete.”
Then, again taking orders from the White House, John-
son overrode his scientific advisors in setting new ozone
standards – sparking yet another firestorm. Finally, in a
stinging rebuke, unions representing the vast majority of
EPA scientists and other specialists cut off future discus-
sions with Johnson for his mendacity on a host of scientific
integrity, information suppression and workplace relations
issues (the union letter is posted on our website).
In response to a PEER-authored cover story in The En-
vironmental Forum cataloguing these and other woes,
Deputy EPA Administrator Marcus Peacock insisted that,
contrary to our assessment, what was really going on is
“the genesis of a new era of environmental successes”
and that in this last year “we’re heeding President Bush’s
call to ‘sprint to the finish.’” Johnson and Peacock may
indeed need to sprint to get out of town.
Spring 2008
Better Late Than Never. EPA estimates that the rules will protect 1.4
million children under age 7 living in 4.9 million residential units.
By law, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was supposed
to adopt lead-safe regulations for repairs and renovations in older
housing by 1996. In 2005, EPA secretly made a decision to aban-
don developing the belated rules altogether. Tipped by agency
employees, PEER exposed the dereliction and sued the agency to
force compliance.
As required in its settlement with PEER, EPA imposed lead train-
ing, certification, and lead-safe work practice requirements for
contractors on all pre-1978 single and multiple-unit dwellings. In
addition, the agency agreed to cover day-care centers and other
child-occupied buildings (darn nice of them).
Dude, What’s in My Water?
Despite recent media coverage, scientists have known about
the widespread presence of chemicals from pesticides, phar-
maceuticals and personal care products in our drinking water
for decades. In 1996, Congress ordered EPA to address the
issue, but the agency missed deadlines and avoided address-
ing deepening contamination, according to a PEER analysis.
Chemicals from over-the-counter and prescription medica-
tions, dietary supplements, hormones, cleaning agents and
other products are not completely metabolized by the human
body and are not screened in water treatment, and thus end
up being discharged into rivers and lakes and entering our
drinking water supplies. EPA’s webpage on pharmaceuticals
and personal care products contains a flat assertion that
these chemicals do not harm humans: This assertion, how-
ever, is contradicted not only by scientists outside of EPA, but
also from EPA’s own scientists and publications.
“On issues of emerging contaminants in our water, EPA is
moving with all deliberate delay,” stated New England PEER
Director Kyla Bennett, a former EPA biologist and lawyer who
prepared PEER’s analysis and is spearheading our campaign
on the issue. “Fetuses are at risk from even one part per qua-
drillion of certain of these chemicals. This exposure pathway
should be cause for great concern, not bland assurances.”

 Interior Department
Interior Attorney Whistleblower Settlement
I
n regard to the whistleblower case of Interior Field Solici-
tor Robert McCarthy {detailed in PEEReview Fall ‘07}, the
Office of the Solicitor and PEER jointly issued the following
statement announcing a global settlement:
“Mr. Robert McCarthy and the Office of the Solicitor, U.S. De-
partment of the Interior, have jointly come to an agreement that
resolves all outstanding cases and controversies between them.
Pursuant to the agreement, which is in the best interests of both
parties and does not admit any liability or wrongdoing on the part
of either party, Mr. McCarthy will end his government service ef-
fective February 16, 2008.”
Pave Paradise and Put Up a Cargo Port
Sears Island. Called “Place of Shining Sands” by the Penobscot
Indians, Sears Island shelters more than 200 varieties of turtles,
birds and mammals, including six state or federally protected
species, among 73 different wetlands.
The Maine Department of Transportation wants to turn Sears
Island in Penobscot Bay into a cargo container port, accord-
ing to an agency scenario exposed by PEER. Under the
plan, more than a third of the largest uninhabited island on
the Eastern Seaboard would be paved over and the rest
used as a “mitigation bank” to facilitate wetlands destruction
elsewhere in the state.
This latest plan comes twelve years after a similar scheme
by the Maine Department of Transportation (DOT) collapsed
after DOT and its consultants told numerous federal agen-
cies that there were no wetlands on the island – and then
proceeded to illegally fill more than 10 acres of them. The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency filed a civil enforce-
ment action against DOT and its contractors. DOT settled the
case for $800,000 worth of wetland restoration and preserva-
tion efforts.
“Carving up Sears Island was a bad idea a decade ago and
is even a worse idea now,” stated New England PEER Direc-
tor Kyla Bennett, a biologist and lawyer who formerly worked
for the EPA and filed the complaint on the original Sears Is-
land case. “Offering Sears Island up for a wetland mitigation
bank does not even pass the straight face test when the only
restoration opportunities on the island consist of two sites,
totaling three-eighths of an acre.”
 PEEReview
Immediately upon his resignation, Mr. McCarthy began his new
job as Managing Attorney of the Oklahoma City Law Office for
Legal Aid Services. “We could not be happier for Robert McCar-
thy,” stated PEER Senior Counsel Paula Dinerstein.
On October 23, 2007, McCarthy was a key witness against the
government and his own agency in the multi-billion dollar class
action lawsuit Cobell v. Kempthorne. His testimony contradicted
Interior’s central defense that it can accurately account for income
from leases of 300,000 Indian landowners and was cited by the
judge in his ruling for the plaintiffs.
Scientists in Ethics Bind
In an effort to control damage from a series of scientific
scandals, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has placed its own
professionals in an ethical bind by issuing contradictory and
confusing directives, according to a PEER analysis. On the
one hand, agency scientists are encouraged to be open and
honest, but on the other hand, they are under orders not to
share any agency scientific “documents, assessments and
drafts” with outsiders.
On January 28, 2008, the Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS)
adopted a groundbreaking “Scientific Code of Professional
Responsibility” which tells agency scientists to –
• “Place reliability and objectivity of scientific activities,
reporting and application of scientific results ahead
of…allegiance to individuals and organizations;”
• “Distinguish between positions that are rooted in
scientific information assessments and those rooted
in organizational values, and make this distinction in
written and oral presentations;” and
• “Disseminate scientific information to the scientific
community and the public to promote understanding
and appreciation for fish and wildlife and their habi-
tats.”
These laudable precepts stand in sharp contrast to “guid-
ance” issued by FWS Director Dale Hall warning scientists
to avoid “premature briefings:”
“[I]t is imperative that all documents, assessments and drafts
remain inside the Service, except for discussions as appro-
priate with recognized federal and state peers.”
Another big conflict stems from the FWS Code urging agen-
cy scientists to “support and participate in professional soci-
eties” yet the Interior Ethics Office advises that involvement
in these scientific societies as more than mere members
constitutes an improper appearance of a conflict-of-interest.
Some relief may be at hand. This spring, Congress will de-
bate legislation drafted by PEER extending legal protection
to federal scientists.
 U.S. Forest Service

Massive Reorganization Dropped

T
he U.S. Forest Service has aban-
doned a massive restructuring of its
environmental planning that would
have pulled its biologists and other special-
ists out of national forests. This retreat fol-
lows a series of recent setbacks in efforts
to privatize large portions of Forest Service
operations.
Under the plan, thousands of employees
posted to forests across the country would
have been reassigned and consolidated into
six “eco-centers.” Altogether, more than
a quarter of the agency’s entire workforce
would have been affected. The object of the
plan was to “streamline” work performed
under the National Environmental Policy
Act or NEPA, the basic planning law that
shapes major resource decisions.
This agency-wide reorganization, which
had been on the verge of adoption this
fall, is being shelved to “avoid additional
disruption and confusion,” according to
the February 20, 2008 memo from Forest
Service Chief Abigail Kimbell obtained by
PEER.
With little time left in the Bush adminis-
tration, it is unlikely that the plan will be
revisited anytime soon. The NEPA restruc-
turing was designed to facilitate outsourc-
ing all this work. In December, however,
Congress blocked further privatization of
Forest Service activities for this Fiscal Year
– another factor acknowledged by Kimbell
in her memo.
Lost in the search for “NEPA efficiency”
is the steep decline in the quality of NEPA
planning within the Forest Service, which
has lost an embarrassingly long string of
environmental lawsuits charging the agen-
cy with failing to adequately consider the
consequences of, or alternatives to, its pro-
GAO Report on Outsourcing Havoc
A Bush White House initiative that pres-
sures federal agencies to put civil service
jobs up for bid by private contractors has
wreaked havoc in the Forest Service,
according to a recent Government Ac-
countability Office. The GAO found the
program put the nation’s fire response
capabilities at risk, violated congressio-
nal restrictions and used shady account-
ing practices to hide costs – findings that
validate past criticisms by PEER.
GAO typically uses guardedly euphe-
posed actions.
“Nothing is more inefficient than losing
a lawsuit that forces the agency to throw
away months of effort and millions of dol-
lars,” PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch
commented, noting that the Forest Service
does not hold its managers accountable
when their handiwork is found to violate
federal law. “In the Forest Service, the
motto is ‘Screw up and move up’ meaning
that those responsible for these legal train
wrecks tend to get promoted and rarely suf-
fer even the slightest reprimand.”
mistic terms in its publications, yet this
report employed blistering language:
“This is a massive undertaking whose
long-term success will depend on a
realistic strategic plan, clear guidance
to identify the key work activities that
should be excluded from competition,
and a strategy to assess the cumulative
effect that outsourcing a large number of
federal jobs could have on its firefighting
capability. Unfortunately, the Forest Ser-
vice has none of these in place.”

Forest Service Fielding Fleet of Drones

The U.S. Forest Service has purchased pilot-less aircraft to • Has little practical law enforcement ap-
provide day and night photo reconnaissance for its law en- plication in the national forests and reflects
forcement program. The two “Sky Seers” cost taxpayers a “boys with toys” mentality among LE&I
$100,000 yet the Forest Service could produce no leadership;
documents spelling out what they want to use
drones for or why pilot-less craft are pre- • May also sit in storage because LE&I lacks
ferred, in response to a Freedom of Infor- qualified personnel to operate the drones; and
mation Act request from PEER. • Is a low priority when the Forest Service is
The drones purchase took place shortly cutting back on the number of
after the Forest Service Law Enforce- Special Agents and enforce-
ment & Investigation (LE&I) program ment officers.
spent $600,000 buying tasers for its entire “The Forest Service is buying
enforcement staff, without any guidelines or glitzy hardware with zero justi-
training program. The tasers are still sitting in fication as to why this is a good
storage cartons. After PEER revealed the taser use of tax dollars,” stated PEER
fiasco, LE&I staff told PEER about the Executive Director Jeff Ruch.
drones and suggested a records request Eye in the Sky. The Sky Seers purchased by “Are they going to buy Robo-
in order to validate staff concerns that the the Forest Service cruise silently at 7,000 feet
Rangers next?”
purchase – and can hover in place for more than an hour.

Spring 2008 
 National Park Service
Great Green-Wash of the Grand Canyon
T
he Interior Department strove to
make a media showcase for a con-
troversial one-time flush of the
Grand Canyon. Interior hoped to drown out
sharp dissent from both the Grand Canyon
National Park and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service – and broadcast by PEER – that the
March 4th “high-flow experiment” may do
more harm than good.
One Interior PR official salivated about the
perceived publicity coup:
“DOI [Department of Interior] de-
serves to be in the spotlight on this
event – it is a tribute to the Depart-
ment’s commitment to scientific
understanding as the best possible
route to managing and protecting
our Nation’s resources.”
In fact, Interior’s top specialists felt that
the experiment is a triumph of politics over
science. The concern was not with the 60-
hour high flow experiment itself but the
condition imposed by Interior that no fur-
ther high-flow flushes of the Grand Canyon
could occur for another five years. Thus,
whatever biological benefit gained from a
single surge is lost if not repeated and flows
do not return to a more natural pattern.
Since the Glen Canyon Dam was finished in
1963, the Colorado River’s volume through
the Grand Canyon has been artificially reg-
ulated at the expense of its natural ebb and
flow. Scientists both in and outside Interior
have argued to vary water levels to more
closely mimic the river’s natural rhythms,
including periodic high flows to lift ac-
cumulated sediment onto beaches and aid
propagation of endangered canyon fish.
In a February 19, 2008 letter, Grand Can-
yon National Park Superintendent Steve
Martin decried the lack of any scientific
basis for the “steady flow periods” or for
limiting options to conducting only one
high-flow event in a five-year span:
• “It is not apparent where the 80 mil-
lion dollars in research, conducted
over the last 10 years has been used
in this decision-making process. Our
analysis shows that this document is
 PEEReview
not consistent with current
best information;” and
• “Inclusion of additional
high flow experiments
must be included…Based
on current scientific infor-
mation, lack of inclusion
of additional high flows
could lead to impairment
of the resources of Grand
Canyon National Park.”
“In its last months, the Bush
Master of Ceremony. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne
administration is trying to ex- came out to inaugurate the “high-flow experiment”
tend its control through the
term of its successor – a dead
man’s hand throttling Colorado River man- mental Assessment was not biological but
agement,” stated PEER Executive Director “socioeconomic” citing the issue of “envi-
Jeff Ruch. “This high-flow stunt is nothing ronmental justice” – a concept championed
but a green wash to mask yet another be- under the Clinton administration that has
trayal of the Grand Canyon by its political fallen into almost complete disuse during
the past seven years. The “environmental
custodians.”
justice” argument is based upon potentially
Perhaps most ironically, the basis for steady higher (but unquantified) electricity costs
flows offered in the Reclamation Environ- working a hardship on poor customers.
In the Shadow of the Mojave Cross
In its latest effort to stop court-ordered transparent “attempt by the government to
removal of an-eight foot cross from the evade the injunction against the display of
middle of the Mojave National Preserve, the Latin cross” on federal land.
the U.S. Justice Department is arguing that
In response, the Justice Department peti-
the National Park Service has no “author-
tioned the 9th Circuit for rehearing by ar-
ity to manage private land” within the park
guing, among other things, that the Nation-
system. If upheld, Justice’s position would
al Park Service lacks authority over lands
strip the Park Service of the power to man-
within national parks that are not federally
age an estimated five million acres of non-
owned. “Ironically, the Justice Department
federal lands embedded within the 84 mil-
is representing the Park Service by taking
lion-acre National Park System.
a legal stance that undermines its client’s
The legal fight over removal of the Mojave mission,” stated PEER Board member
Cross has spanned the entire tenure of Bush Frank Buono, the former deputy superin-
administration. It is the quintessential ex- tendent of Mojave National Preserve who
ample of the Bush Justice Department go- brought the suit to remove the Mojave
ing to extremes to defend display of Chris- Cross, noting that a request from another
tian symbols on federal lands. party to install a Buddhist stupa at the site
of the Mojave Cross was rejected.
In 2003, the Bush administration supported
a scheme to exchange the one federal acre The Mojave Cross is one of several in-
with the Mojave Cross into private hands, stances in which the Bush administration
within the boundaries of the Mojave Na- has pushed Christian displays and creation-
tional Preserve. In September 2007, the ist interpretations in national park facilities,
9th Circuit upheld a district court ruling an effort which PEER calls “Faith-Based
that the land exchange was “a sham” and a Parks.”

Court Victory for Chief
T
he U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit has upheld the chal-
National Park Service
a new Interior Office of Inspector
General report which found that

photo from the Washington Post

lenge of Teresa Chambers to her
removal as Chief of the U.S. Park Police.
The appeals court sent her case back to a
federal civil service board to correct its
failure to recognize that Chief Chambers
was removed “in reprisal for making a pro-
tected disclosure” under the Whistleblower
Protection Act.
The court ruling affirmed that police and
other public servants are legally protected
when raising warnings about “a risk to
public safety.” As such, this decision will
also have broad application beyond Chief
Chambers to personnel within Homeland
Security and related agencies who report
security breakdowns.
The U.S. Interior Department removed
Chief Chambers from her post overseeing
the U.S. Park Police after she confirmed
serious staffing shortages in an interview
with the Washington Post. The substance of
Chief Chambers’ concerns was validated in
the Park Police is still plagued by
inadequate force levels and fund-
ing. Ironically, her successor,
Chief Dwight Pettiford, has been
suspended by Interior after he an-
swered a question from the Post
about the security of the monu-
ments on the National Mall by
saying, “They’re still standing.”
The U.S. Park Police Really Need Her Now. Teresa
Meanwhile, the problems she Chambers is now the Chief of Police in Riverdale Park,
highlighted have only worsened. Maryland.
The number of U.S. Park Police
officers is the lowest it has been in
her long legal fight. “Now is the time for
twenty years. Despite adding new recruits,
Interior to bring Chief Chambers back to
the Park Police cannot keep up with attri-
solve the problems she risked her career to
tion. At the same time, records compiled
raise.” All of the Interior Department and
by PEER show record levels of assaults on
National Park Service appointees who were
officers who are often forced to respond to
involved in the suspension and removal of
incidents without back-up.
Chambers have since either resigned, been
“This is a great victory for Chief Cham- reassigned, or, in the case of then Deputy
bers,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Interior Secretary Steven Griles, impris-
Ruch. PEER has represented Chambers in oned for lying to Congress.

Environmental Whistleblowers Face Longer Odds

Employees who face reprisal for reporting
pollution, public health risks or other envi-
ronmental violations are finding the Bush
administration a major obstacle to relief,
according to a PEER analysis. The record
of overseeing anti-retaliation provisions of
seven major environmental statutes for cur-
rent Labor Secretary Elaine Chao has been
starkly anti-whistleblower.
PEER analyzed all of the decisions by the
Labor Secretary’s Administrative Review
Board (consisting of three lawyers selected
by the Secretary) under the whistleblower
provisions of the Clean Air Act, Safe Drink-
ing Water Act, Superfund, Clean Water Act,
Toxic Substances Control Act, Solid Waste
Disposal Act and the Energy Reorganiza-
tion Act (which covers nuclear materials).
The Administrative Review Board (ARB)
reviews all decisions from non-partisan
administrative law judges following a full
evidentiary hearing.
Under Secretary Chao, a much higher per-
centage of these verdicts are overturned to
the detriment of the whistleblower:
• Reversals of whistleblower verdicts
rose 250% during the Bush years. In
2004 alone, Sec. Chao’s ARB reversed
three times as many pro-whistleblow-
er decisions as were reversed in four
Clinton years;
• Fewer than 3 out of 10 pro-whistle-
blower decisions were upheld under
Bush versus 7 out of 10 under Clinton;
and
• In one period, Sec. Chao’s ARB re-
versed 10 out of 11 pro-whistleblower
decisions.
For public employees, Secretary Chao is
erecting new barriers, such as invoking the
doctrine of sovereign immunity (based on
the old English common law principle that
“The King can do no wrong”), to bar feder-
al employee claims. In another case, ARB
rulings against a National Park Service em-
ployee have been unanimously overturned
twice by the conservative U.S. Fourth
Circuit Court of Appeals, only to have the
ARB rule a third time against the worker.
That case involves a safety officer named
William Knox who reported an asbestos
problem at the agency’s Job Corps Center
in Harper’s Ferry, WV. In response, the
Park Service first tried to fire Knox and then
cut his pay, transferred him and reduced
his duties. Knox filed a complaint under
the Clean Air Act. After a 29-day hearing,
the judge awarded punitive damages of
$200,000, one of the highest awards against
a federal agency, citing “outrageous” mis-
conduct by the Park Service as reprisal for
“brave, dedicated and conscientious pub-
lic-spirited” reports by Knox.
“Bill Knox’s experience epitomizes what is
wrong with our system for protecting en-
vironmental whistleblowers,” stated PEER
Staff Attorney Adam Draper, who prepared
the analysis and is handling Knox’s case.
“From the point of view of workers’ rights,
this Secretary of Labor should be re-titled
Secretary of Toil and Trouble.”

Spring 2008 
 Department of Homeland Security
Border Now Lawless in 30 More Ways
U
tal statutes, to speed the construction of a fence along our border
with Mexico. Chertoff is now being called on the carpet to explain
why he acted so precipitously and Congress is now considering
revoking the waiver authority it so unwisely gave the Homeland
Security Secretary.
Mule Deer at Border Fence. Southwest PEER is working on identifying
and addressing environmental problems created by the construction of
walls and other barriers on our border with Mexico.
Tennessee Corner
Anonymous Whistleblowers Unite
Something set off State Rep. Jason Mumpower, who intro-
duced a bill to prohibit the Department of Environment and
Conservation from taking any “investigative or enforcement
actions of violations of environmental laws based solely
upon information submitted by an anonymous source.” This
profoundly dumb measure died a quiet death in a legislative
corner. No one claimed credit for its demise, fueling the ru-
mor that it was done in by anonymous sources.
Barking up the Wrong Tree
After much legal huffing and puffing by Tennessee PEER,
the Upper Columbia Regional Airport has altered its expan-
sion plans to spare ten acres of very important, high-quality
wetlands. The wetlands are a real treasure for local bird-
watchers and home to the Tennessee barking tree frog, a
very real but very threatened species.
Mitigate Thyself
A developer illegally filled in some wetlands outside of Nash-
ville but it turns out those wetlands had been designated as
mitigation for another project by the Tennessee Department
of Transportation. The construction industry, however, op-
erates under the notion that mitigation means you can do
whatever you want with never having to say you are sorry
(see the “Yes, Net Loss” wetlands campaign on the PEER
website). It took a lawsuit but Tennessee PEER was able
to enforce the wetlands protection law, collect attorneys’
fees and an agreement to perform additional mitigation work
– and, if past is prologue, another developer will come along
and try to build on the new mitigation we just won.
 PEEReview
sing a power which he swore to use only as a last resort,
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff waived
the provisions of 30 laws, including several environmen-
Sonar Shenanigans
The U.S. Navy’s new low frequency sonar arrays have
been linked to deaths of whales and dolphins by blow-
ing out their acoustic systems. Despite this concern,
the Navy wants to use the sonar extensively in waters
off Southern California for training exercises. After los-
ing several court battles with conservation groups who
want the Navy to employ safeguards to protect marine
life, the Navy persuaded President Bush to declare a
national security emergency to allow the sonar training.
Fortunately, the federal courts are not buying it and have
found the emergency declaration “constitutionally sus-
pect” – largely because the claim of a national security
emergency has no basis in fact.
In finally preparing environmental assessments, the
Navy admits that these exercises would likely injure
or kill more than 94,000 marine mammals a year. The
Navy is asking the U.S. Supreme court to intervene
Signing Statement Middle Finger
In signing the 2008 Defense Authorization Act, President
Bush singled out a section extending whistleblower protec-
tions to employees of military contractors – to say that he
would ignore it. In one of his infamous “signing statements”
Bush said the new whistleblower provisions “could inhibit
the President’s ability to carry out his constitutional obliga-
tions to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, to
protect national security, to supervise the executive branch,
and to execute his authority as Commander in Chief.” Cut-
ting through this vague verbiage, our President appears to
be saying that he would appreciate fewer exposés of waste,
fraud and abuse by military contractors.
By contrast, confronting the same problem in a different
war, President Abraham Lincoln sponsored a bill authoriz-
ing citizen suits to recover contractor fraud against the gov-
ernment. That law, now called the False Claims Act, is still
on the books and winning taxpayers back more than a bil-
lion dollars a year – and it contains the same sort of whistle-
blower protections our current president finds anathema.
 Florida
Lab Manager Seeks to Clear Manatee Mystery Documents
Florida’s Murkiest Waters

F
lorida’s program to clean up its waters has been undermined
by top state officials who tolerated tainted data, destroyed
records and ignored federal anti-pollution rules, according
to a lawsuit filed by PEER on behalf of Tom White, a scientist with
19 years experience in the Florida Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP). White was the senior chemist in the Port St.
Lucie laboratory until he was terminated based on allegations of
data fraud, but DEP has been unable to identify which particular
data were allegedly altered or how.
Not only does White adamantly deny that he had altered any data,
the suit details that he was the one who blew the whistle on im-
proper oversight of lab operations. Problems identified by White
impeached the integrity of South Florida water quality plans and
should disqualify the state for federal grants. Malign Neglect. Wounds from propellers and boats are the
leading cause of manatee mortality.
White is also suing seven current and former top DEP officials per-
sonally, including Pinky Hall, the Inspector General. The lawsuit Even as it seeks to downgrade protections for the endangered
charges that DEP’s failure to address these deficiencies compro- Florida manatee, the Bush administration is withholding re-
mised thousands of water quality samples and “delayed by years cords about how well those protections are implemented, ac-
the cleanup of polluted waters in South Florida.” cording to a lawsuit filed by PEER. The lawsuit charges the
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) with violating the Free-
dom of Information Act for failing to release –
Wetlands Pollute – Who Knew? • Status reports on repair needs and visibility of speed limit
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has accepted a devel- and warning signs in Florida waters;
opment model that has been criticized for assuming that wetlands
are a source of pollution – pollution that can be cured by develop- • Evaluations of the effectiveness of its signage in prevent-
ment. Overruling its own specialists, EPA is opening the door to a ing death or injuries to manatees; and
new wave of mega-developments that will sharply erode Florida’s
already declining water quality. The agency has agreed to over- • An explanation of why FWS has yet to adopt rules for-
look warnings of more toxic algae outbreaks, growing saltwater bidding harassment in swim-with interactions between
intrusion and spreading groundwater contamination. manatees and humans.
Central to Florida’s approach is reliance upon larger artificial
ponds to contain storm-water runoff. This method, however, falls As an endangered species, manatees are not supposed to be
well short of meeting minimal water quality standards. In addition, harassed by humans. Yet right outside of a federal sanctuary,
experts predict the holding ponds will be prime breeding grounds tourist resorts urge patrons to swim with manatees. Sea cows
for toxic algal blooms that increasingly plague state waters. are poked, kicked, chased and calves become separated from
Final approval was delayed in 2003 by the public resignation of their mothers. PEER is asking why FWS has not acted.
EPA scientist Bruce Boler in protest. Although specialists continue
to have grave reservations, Regional Administrator Jimmy Palmer
Despite a record level of manatee deaths in 2006 and a high
ordered them to stand aside. EPA’s final evaluation was “sanitized” level in 2007, the Bush administration is pushing to downgrade
but even the final, censored version raises large red flags: the manatee from endangered status even as the State of Flori-
da shelved its own efforts to downgrade the protective status of
“EPA Region 4 cannot verify the conclusions of the new state-
wide model. The approach leaves wide room for user inter- the manatee. The downgrade will facilitate more marinas and
pretation with minimal references for such interpretation. This other coastal construction.
could result in inaccurate analyses, poor project designs that
do not achieve pollutant removal targets and ultimately, de- “The manatee protection information we are requesting is pre-
graded water quality.” cisely the sort of data the Fish & Wildlife Service should be
actively tracking – they should not have to go on an archaeo-
“If this is an endorsement what does EPA’s disapproval look like?”
logical expedition to dig it up,” stated PEER Counsel Adam
asked PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noting that EPA has
dropped objections to destruction of large tracts of wetlands in a Draper, who filed the suit. “We are trying to find out whether
slew of cases. “For all intents and purposes, EPA has ceased to these endangered species are dying needlessly because the safe-
exist in Florida.” guards that are supposed to be in place are, in fact, missing.”

Spring 2008 
 PEER Perspective
Client 9, Please Call Home
C
Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius
Gov. Sebelius vetoed a bill that would have sited
two new coal-fired power-plants and stripped state
regulators of the ability to deny any others. In her veto
message she said, “Of all the duties and responsibilities
entrusted to me as governor, none is greater than my obli-
gation to protect the health and well-being of the people of
Kansas.” Maybe now someone will have to write a book
called “What’s Right with Kansas.”
C
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Special Agent-in-
Charge Gary Mowad
A fly-over of northeastern Colorado resulted in 80
citations for oil slicks in pits holding groundwater extracted
by oil drilling. “These pits are like flypaper for birds; they
are killers and it’s very important they be identified and
cleaned up,” said Mowad, who led the joint federal-state
enforcement effort. Once dead, the bird carcasses then
endanger scavengers, such as foxes and badgers. More than
a third of the pits have already been cleaned up.
C
Great Basin National Park
Superintendent Paul DePrey
Citing concerns about haze and acid rain, the
Great Basin National Park formally objected to a proposed
coal-fired power-plant near Ely, Nevada as “unacceptable.”
While the park’s protest does not necessarily block the
plant, the vehemence of the opposition was noteworthy.
“Like a clean, white page, the relatively clear air in the
Great Basin can be marred easily,” wrote park superinten-
dent DePrey, adding that “Dark night skies, for the first
time in history, are becoming an extinct phenomenon.”
It must be getting awfully late in the Bush administration
when park managers can speak up publicly in defense of
the resources in their charge.
C
Bob Whitmore, Occupational Safety
& Health Administration management
data specialist
Allowing industry to self-report worker injuries means that
official estimates vastly undercount actual occupational
accidents and illnesses, says Whitmore, who has overseen
OSHA’s data collection for twenty years. In some high-risk
industries, such as poultry processing, agency numbers are
likely two to three times lower than reality. Both indus-
try and OSHA vehemently dispute Whitmore’s analysis.
His counter: “I want to hold people accountable who are
abusing workers. It’s as simple as that.” As a result of a
supposedly unrelated matter, Whitmore has been on ad-
ministrative leave since July. So, if OSHA will not honor
his candor and courage, we certainly will.
10
D Alaska’s Congressional Delegation
This is a shared Thumb for Rep. Don Young and
Sens. Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski for their
inveterate pork-aholic ways. Their latest “Road
to Nowhere” goes right through the heart of the Izembek
National Wildlife Refuge across protected wilderness.
The proposed 9-mile road would connect two tiny villages
which have already benefited from a $37 million federal
subsidy (courtesy of guess who) for an upgraded airport
and hovercraft terminal – plus the hovercraft itself which
can travel 58 MPH over water, ice or land. With fast de-
veloping corruption investigations swirling, this November
Alaska’s voters may break up their congressional Gang of
Three before a grand jury can do the job.
C
EPA Assistant Administrator Ben
Grumbles
There has not been much to praise of late at EPA
(see page 3), but the agency is standing up to “veto” one
of the most pernicious projects in the history of the Army
Corps of Engineers (and that is saying a lot) – the infamous
Yazoo Pumps. EPA has issued only 11 vetoes of Corps
projects using its powers under the Clean Water Act; the
last veto was back in 1990. The Yazoo Backwater Recla-
mation Project, as it is formally known, would destroy an
estimated 200,000 wetland acres in the lower Mississippi
Delta – more wetlands losses than all previously vetoed
projects combined. Grumbles is EPA’s point person and
therefore has to absorb the wounded bleating of one of the
Senate’s leading water buffaloes and Yazoo patron, Sen.
Thad Cochran of the great state of Mississippi.
C
Dr. Christopher DeRosa, toxicologist,
Centers for Disease Control
Speaking of candor and courage, Chris DeRosa
may take the cake for blowing the whistle on two high-
profile agency cover-ups. One involves the long-term
negative effects of exposure to formaldehyde in the now
infamous FEMA trailers. The other concerns a suppressed
report about the health effects of pollution in the Great
Lakes region. For his troubles, DeRosa has been stripped
of his position as director of the Division of Toxicology and
Environment at CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry – a position he held for 16 years. He asks,
“If I’m not an advocate for public health as a member of the
U.S. government, who is?” For now, DeRosa is spending
a lot of time on Capitol Hill testifying about findings and
warnings his agency should have issued. If there is any
justice, he might find himself as the new director of CDC
in the next administration.
PEEReview
 Off-Road Penalties
Congress Gauges ORV Toll
T
he U.S. Congress held its first hearing on the growing toll matically cutting back on its ranger force. Gregory predicted that
exacted from public lands, visitors and budgets by irre- the current Forest Service effort to designate ORV routes will fail
sponsible off road vehicle (ORV) traffic. The House Nat- due to, among other failures, inability to keep thrill-seeking off-
ural Resources Subcommittee on roaders on designated trails.
National Parks, Forests and Public
Lands, chaired by Rep. Raul Grijalva The hearing took place almost one
(D-AZ), heard testimony from angry year after the Easter riots at Little Sa-
property owners, upset Indian tribal hara Recreation Area in Utah where
representatives and concerned law inebriated gangs of ORV riders ter-
enforcers, including Jack Gregory, rorized thousands of campers, result-
who testified for Rangers for Re- ing in 300 arrests and 37 injuries,
sponsible Recreation, a network of according to agency reports obtained
former state, federal and local law by PEER. This Easter things were
enforcement officers and land man- quieter but BLM had to assemble a
agers organized by PEER. more than 100 officer multi-agency
force to keep the peace.
In his testimony, Gregory gave a Subcommittee Chair Raul Grijalva thanks Jack Gregory for
blunt assessment of the gravity of the “While we are glad Congress is fi-
his testimony while Jack’s wife Jackie looks on.
current state of affairs: nally beginning to look at the havoc
wreaked by irresponsible ORV use
“Irresponsible off-roading has be- on our public lands, the hard work
come such a menace that it is now is just beginning,” stated Southwest
the single greatest threat to American PEER Director Daniel Patterson,
landscapes.” who organized Rangers for Respon-
sible Recreation. “We need much
Besides rapidly escalating damage to
tougher penalties for ORV abuse,
forest streams, wetlands, ravines and
such as vehicle forfeiture, provided
meadows, Gregory detailed ORV-
there are enough boots on the ground
generated law enforcement problems
to enforce basic protections.”
that are spinning out of control, in-
cluding – Taxpayer costs from ORVs were
another hearing topic. Statistics
• Forest fires sparked by red-hot A Ranger for Responsible Recreation. Jack Gregory, the
gathered and surveys conducted
engines touching off dry grasses; retired Forest Service law enforcement agent in charge of the
southern region, testified for PEER. by PEER show that ORVs are now
• Drug smuggling and illegal alien overwhelmingly the top law enforce-
trafficking; and ment drain on public lands. To docu-
ment long-term costs, Rep. Grijalva has requested a study by the
• Mounting injuries, particularly to young, untrained riders. Government Accountability Office into ORV damage inflicted on
In the face of rising ORV lawlessness, the Forest Service is dra- public lands.

BLM’s Six Million Acre Sleight of Hand

A legislative attempt to protect all
of the national monuments, historic
trails and conservation areas within
the U.S. Bureau of Land Manage-
ment was drafted with a techni-
cal trap door. The bill to codify the
National Landscape Conservation
System (NLCS) leaves out most
of what some call its crown jewel
–the California Desert Conservation
Area. More than six millions acres
– an area bigger than New Jersey
– would be excluded without a word
of explanation.
On its website, BLM depicts the
California Desert Conservation Area
(CDCA) as part of the proposed
NLCS in maps and fact sheets.
But, behind-the-scenes, a decision
had been made to drop most of the
CDCA out of the system and hope
that no one noticed.
Alerted by BLM employees, PEER
blew the whistle and now Sen. Di-
ane Feinstein (D-CA) is vowing to
fix the “glitch.” But this was no in-
advertent slip. Rescuing the CDCA
will require finding out just who
made the decision to axe it and
why.

Spring 2008 11
 U.S. Army Material Command
Arctic Wildlife Trampled
continued from page 1
releases of incriminating documents. Its
Associate Solicitor wrote PEER –
“We request that you immediately
cease your unauthorized publication
of these privileged communications
and return them to MMS, along with
other MMS communications or doc-
uments in your possession that MMS
has not authorized for disclosure.”
Read Samples of What Was Suppressed
Invasive Species Warning Stilled
The Interior Department directed its scien-
tists to exclude the high likelihood that off-
shore oil drilling would introduce invasive
species into Arctic waters. In fact, MMS
removed its top specialist from further
work on the issue because he “refused to
implement DOI and MMS policy vis-à-vis
invasive species” which is that –
“Bottom line: No information regard-
ing seismic vessels introducing inva-
sive species on the OCS [Outer Con-
tinental Shelf].”
This scientist had warned: “The introduc-
tion [of] non-native species to Alaska wa-
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
2000 P Street, NW, Suite 240
Washington, DC 20036
Return Service Requested
Printed on Recycled Paper
Of course, PEER is continuing to publish
internal documents that anguished scien-
tists have provided to us, with many more
disclosures to come. Lawsuits brought by
conservation groups and Native communi-
ties contend that Interior failed to honestly
reflect dangers to endangered marine life,
such as bowhead whales, as well as to po-
lar bear populations struggling to cope with
shrinking sea ice due to global warming.
These suits rely on the PEER documents.
ters that subsequently become invasive
may very well yield much greater sig-
nificant adverse impacts than a large oil
spill.”
Polar Bear as Indicator Species
Interior has delayed listing the polar bear
under the Endangered Species Act and uses
that delay as the basis for shunning urgent
pleas from its own scientists for greater
safeguards. As a result, oil companies are
not required to minimize damage to polar
bears, such as disturbing sows in their dens
with young cubs which often causes cubs
to be abandoned.
In a January 26, 2007 e-mail, an agency
Yukon Refuge Oil Rush
continued from page 1
to water quality and the risk of oil spills.
“Interior is trying to accomplish on the Yu-
kon what Congress denied them on the Arc-
tic National Wildlife Refuge,” stated Grady
Hocutt, a former long-time refuge manager
who directs the PEER refuge program.
“The net result will sweep a vital wildlife
refuge into an oil rush, crisscrossed with
pipelines and roads.”
bear biologist pleaded with his superiors
to hold leasing activity until even minimal
protections could be ensured –
• “I do not see how the MMS can pass
the ‘red face’ test ...when polar bear is-
sues which have been raised have been
repeatedly and completely ignored by
both Shell and MMS;” and
• Large polar bear populations “are
likely to be greased if there is an oil
spill.”
Another e-mail refers to the “extreme pres-
sure” placed on MMS scientists to speed
environmental reviews.
NON PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
WASHINGTON, DC
PERMIT NO. 6094
Hightower
O n the evening of
March 18th, our
friend Jim Hightower
joined us for a reception
with our local major
donors, followed by a
talk and book signing
for his latest, Swim
Against the Current. A
great time was had by
all, and Jim’s talk about the power of individuals
standing up for what they believe in reinvigorated
the PEER staff and the audience.

Thank you!
We gratefully thank the Agape Foundation,
Arabella Legacy Fund, the Brainerd
Foundation, the French Foundation, and
the Herb Block Foundation for their recent
grant support. We would also like to thank
Barbara Meislin, Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Brown,
Robert Dresdner, Mark Kleiman, and other
anonymous members for their generosity.
 Ways to Give
There are many ways you can make a special gift to
PEER. The greatest benefit of your gift is that it allows
us to support public employees in safely and effectively
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as government integrity and accountability. Gifts can also
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