Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility: News Release

EPA REFUSES TO RELEASE RESULTS OF SCIENTIST SURVEYS

— Group Sues to Force Disclosure of Polls of Agency Scientists

— The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is illegally blocking the release of internal surveys of its own scientific staff, according to a federal lawsuit filed today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

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During the Bush Administration, EPA has been plagued by reports of political suppression of scientific results on issues ranging from global warming and mercury regulation to the health effects of the toxic fallout from the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.

In February, the Union of Concerned Scientists and PEER released a survey the two groups conducted among scientists within the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. That survey revealed high reported levels of political intervention to change scientific conclusions as well fear of retaliation for expressing scientific concerns at variance with perceived agency positions.