Arctic scientist's complaint being reviewed
by Becky Bohrer, The Associated Press,
JUNEAU, Alaska – An inquiry is under way into the treatment of suspended Arctic scientist Charles Monnett, an Interior Department official said.
The department's scientific integrity officer, Ralph Morgenweck, confirmed the inquiry in a letter this week to the watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), which filed a complaint last month on Monnett's behalf, provided a copy to The Associated Press on Friday.
The group accuses top officials within Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) of scientific and scholarly misconduct for their treatment of Monnett.
PEER said Monnett, who coordinated much of BOEMRE's research on the Arctic ecology and wildlife, was placed on leave pending results of an inspector general's investigation into "integrity issues." [A bunch of bull!]
PEER, in its complaint, asked that Monnett be reinstated and that the investigation be dropped or pursued by specifying charges against Monnett, in accordance with department policy. [Note, readers, that the manner in which Dr. Monnett is being treated falls well outside standard procedures.]
An Interior spokesman said Friday that the letter shows that PEER's allegation is being reviewed under the "standard procedures" contained within a scientific integrity policy implemented earlier this year. [Can we expect the Interior Department to follow its standard procedures when the investigators clearly are not?]
PEER lists as subjects of its complaint agency director Michael Bromwich, acting Alaska regional director James Kendall, deputy regional director Jeffery Loman and any others involved in the handling of Monnett's case. It also names a special agent [Eric May, perhaps? The guy who can't do simple ratios? What are the qualifications for getting a job with the IG? How the heck did he get a job when he has such a limited skill set? Maybe someone should check his résumé to see if there was any padding.] within the inspector general's office, who has questioned Monnett and his chain-of-command.
PEER has said the investigation into Monnett has focused on the scientific merit of a 2006 article in which he and a colleague recorded their observations of apparently drowned polar bears in the Arctic. That article helped to galvanize the global warming movement.
Monnett's suspension came in the midst of a months-long investigation by the inspector general's office. BOEMRE has indicated that his being placed on leave was related to how a polar bear research project was awarded and managed. [Sure, we're supposed to buy these blatant lies when we know that the interview with Dr. Jeffrey Gleason was all about the 2006 paper, and the first interview with Dr. Monnett was all about the 2006 paper. Now, the so-called "special" agents are working overtime to try to save their sorry reputations, and misconstrue anything they think they have found in order to destroy Dr. Monnett and save themselves. This whole thing is reprehensible!]
Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/08/12/1758535/arctic-scientists-complaint-being.html
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