PEER News Releases for 2011

August 10, 2011  NOAA SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY PLAN OFFERS NO SHIELD FOR SCIENTISTS — Lack of Whistleblower Protection Leaves Scientists Vulnerable to Official Reprisal

August 9, 2011  POLAR BEAR PAPER REMAINS FOCUS OF IG PROBE OF ARCTIC SCIENTIST — IG Refuses to Identify Criminal Charge Rejected by Justice Department

August 9, 2011  OSHA HALF-STEPS WON’T HEAL BROKEN WHISTLEBLOWER PROGRAM — New Layer of Bureaucracy Feeds into Same Regional Structure Scorched in Reviews New Layer of Bureaucracy Feeds into Same Regional Structure Scorched in Reviews

August 8, 2011  EPA POSTS PATHETICALLY WEAK SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY PROPOSAL — No Rules to Ban Political Manipulation or Secure Transparency or Right to Publish

August 8, 2011  POLLUTERS’ ATTORNEY SEES NO CONFLICTS IN TOP JERSEY ECO-JOB — Duties Have Direct Impact on Former Clients’ Fortunes; Ethics Review Requested Duties Have Direct Impact on Former Clients’ Fortunes; Ethics Review Requested

August 2, 2011  INTERIOR POLAR BEAR FLAP TAKES OMINOUS NEW TURN— Joint Study with Canadian Researchers Halted in Inspector General Probe

July 28, 2011  ARCTIC SCIENTIST PROTESTS WITCH HUNT ON POLAR BEAR PAPER — Key Studies Disrupted as Supervising Federal Scientist Suspended from Duties

July 27, 2011  PARK SERVICE INDIAN TRADING POST FIASCO FINALLY UNEARTHED — Inspector General Sat on Scathing Report to Limit Government Officials’ Liability

July 21, 2011  WHITE HOUSE PACT WITH INDUSTRY TO PUSH GE PLANTS— High-Level Working Group Shielding Plan to Force GE Crops onto Wildlife Refuges

July 20, 2011  PARK SERVICE TO LET INDIANS REMOVE PLANTS AND MINERALS — Abrupt Reversal of Conservation Mandate Raises Legal and Management Questions

July 18, 2011  EPA REFUSES TO STUDY RISKS OF COAL ASH USES IT ENDORSES — Scientists Told Agency Does Not Want Safety Concerns Raised about Coal Ash

July 6, 2011  FRACKING FLUIDS POISON A NATIONAL FOREST — New Study Details Changes in Soil Chemistry and Devastation of Trees and Plants

July 5, 2011  BARRIER BETWEEN PUBLIC SERVICE AND NONPROFITS FALLING — Ethics Rule Restricting Federal Employees from Nonprofit Boards Set for Repeal

June 30, 2011  THE BIG CYPRESS WILDERNESS ROBBERY — Park Service Scheme to Strip 40,000 Preserve Acres of Wilderness Eligibility Bared

June 29, 2011  NOAA KEEPS GAG RULE ON UNIVERSITY MARINE SCIENTISTS — Rejects Petition to Lift Ban against “Advocacy” by Sea Grant Recipients

June 27, 2011  EPA THROWS ROADBLOCK AT BAY STATE SOUTH COAST RAIL PROJECT — “Unacceptable Impact” and Inaccurate Assessment Dim Prospects for New Rail Line

June 14, 2011  WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS FOR SCIENTISTS SIDELINED — Science Integrity Initiative Allows Agencies to Certify Current Practices as Sufficient

June 9, 2011  CONSERVATIONISTS ASK NEW MEXICO GOVERNOR TO SET WOLF POLICY ON FACTS — Top State Officials to Consider Endangered Mexican Gray Wolves at Meeting Today

June 9, 2011  CUTBACKS CRIPPLE ARIZONA AIR POLLUTION ENFORCEMENT — Despite Looming EPA Sanctions, County Signals Corporate Kid Glove Treatment

June 8, 2011  CHRISTIE ABRUPT ABOUT-FACE ON GREEN POWER — Nuclear and Natural Gas Touted; Conservation Incentives to be Zeroed Out

June 6, 2011  OFF-ROADERS SEEK TAKEOVER OF CALIFORNIA PARKS — Henry Coe and Red Rock Canyon State Parks Targeted in Financial Crisis Gambit

May 31, 2011  EPA WAVES RED FLAG ON BAY STATE RAIL PROJECT — Rapid Bus More Practical and Less Harmful than Running Train through Swamp

May 31, 2011  NEW JERSEY TO DEREGULATE TOXIC VAPOR INTRUSION — Control of Deadly Seepage Put on “Honor System” in Christie Regulatory Rollback

May 25, 2011  CALIFORNIA PARKS ON CLOSURE LIST TRIGGER FEDERAL PAYBACK — Nearly 1 in 5 Parks Set for Shutdown Used Fed Dollars with Promise to Keep Open

May 23, 2011  FLORIDA TOP ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICIAL FIGHTS FEDERAL DEBARMENT — Secretary Vinyard May Lose Authority over Water Quality Regulation at Key Time

May 19, 2011  OVERSTRESSED AZ BORDER REFUGE INVITES IN OFF-ROAD VEHICLES — No Field Damage Monitoring as Refuge Fired Volunteers for Expressing Concerns

May 17, 2011  FLORIDA TRUNCATES ECO-SAFEGUARDS ON BEACH PROJECTS — No Review of Contaminants or Wildlife Damage as BP-Funded Beach Work Starts

May 9, 2011  EPA HALTS HEIGHTENED MONITORING OF FUKUSHIMA FALLOUT — No New Milk, Rain or Drinking Water Sampling for another Three Months

May 4, 2011  GOVERNOR CHRISTIE’S GLOBAL WARMING HONEY POT — Eco-Fund Raided for Anti-Eco Projects; Recycling $ Recycled to General Fund

April 28, 2011  ASSEMBLY LINE INJUSTICE FOR FEDERAL WHISTLEBLOWERS — MSPB Plan to Speed up Appeal Process Magnifies Underlying Dysfunctions

April 20, 2011  FLORIDA PANTHERS DYING AT A RECORD RATE — Conservation Groups Launch Appeal to Win Critical Habitat for Endangered Cat

April 18, 2011  LOSS OF STREAMS AND WETLANDS WILL WIDEN WITH NEW CORPS RULES — Green Power Encouraged to Leave Brown Footprints under New Exemptions

April 11, 2011  STRONG FEDERAL ACTION NEEDED NOW AT TOXIC JERSEY DUPONT SITE — Spreading and Uncontrolled Contamination in Hundreds of Pompton Lakes Homes

April 7, 2011  WIDELY USED ANTIBACTERIAL TRICLOSAN SHOULD BE BANNED — Rising Threat to Human Health and Environment Yet No More Effective than Soap

April 6, 2011  CALL TO REGULATE DRILLING ON NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGES — To Avert Damage from Shale Gas Boom, Refuges Urged to Adopt Park Service Rules

April 4, 2011  GULAG EPA – REPORT FINDS DISCRIMINATION MELTDOWN— Ineffective EPA Civil Rights Office “Lost Sight of Its Mission and Priorities”

March 31, 2011  STUPOR OVER STUPA AFFLICTS PARK SERVICE — Leadership Paralysis on Handling Religious Displays in National Parks

March 30, 2011  NOAA SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY PLAN HAS BIG GAPS TO FILL IN — Unresolved Tension between Transparency and Management Content Control

March 28, 2011  EPA CONTINUES TO PROMOTE COAL ASH WITHOUT KNOWING RISKS — Inspector General Excoriates EPA for Blocking Risk Assessments and Screening

March 22, 2011  PARK SERVICE SCIENTISTS CLEARED AGAIN IN PT. REYES OYSTER FLAP — Repeated Investigations Aimed at Keeping Commercial Oyster Operation in Estuary

March 17, 2011  NATIONAL PARK PLANS TRAIL DESIGNED FOR MOUNTAIN BIKES — Unprecedented “Pay-to-Play” Deal Gives Private Bike Group Backcountry Access

March 16, 2011  KOCH PAPER MILL PROFITS FROM WEAK POLLUTION REGULATION — Demand for EPA Intervention to Stem Enormous Effluent Flow from Arkansas Plant

March 15, 2011  OFFICIAL ABETTING FLORIDA ECO-TRAIN WRECK GETS PROMOTED — Fish & Wildlife Service Gives “Litigation Magnet” National Endangered Species Slot

March 14, 2011  HAWAII TSUNAMI RESPONSE GETS MIXED FEDERAL SIGNALS — NOAA Wants Tsunami Warning Center Relocated Where Navy Says to Evacuate

March 10, 2011  PARK SERVICE PLAN MUDDIES WILDERNESS PROTECTIONS — Confusing, Conflicting Guidance on Climbing Anchors and Other Topics

March 9, 2011  CAPE WIND MONITORING PLAN IS FOR THE BIRDS — Bird and Bat Studies Not Designed to Pick Up Meaningful Data

March 9, 2011  BIG CYPRESS ORV PLAN TRIGGERS LAWSUIT THREAT — Proposed Trail Network Poses Threat to Florida Panther and Other Protected Species

March 2, 2011  EPA CRIMINAL INVESTIGATORS MAKE FOR THE EXITS — High Number of Special Agents Transfer Out of Troubled Criminal Program in 2010

February 23, 2011  FLORIDA TOP OFFICIALS’ POLLUTION TIES VIOLATE FEDERAL LAW — EPA Funding of State Water Quality Programs in Jeopardy; Complaint Filed

February 17, 2011  MAKE EMERGENCY MANATEE MEASURES STRONGER AND PERMANENT — 115 Manatee Deaths So Far in 2011; Emergency Safeguards Lapse in Mid-March

February 15, 2011  PRESS OFFICE SCREENS OCEAN SCIENCE FOR “GRAMMATICAL ERRORS” — Interior Says Fears Based on “Misinterpretation of Policy” But Issue No Correction

February 14, 2011  OBAMA ADMINISTRATION EMBRACES GE CROPS ON WILDLIFE REFUGES — Plans Issued to Green-Light Genetically Engineered Agriculture on Scores of Refuges

February 1, 2011  INTERIOR FIRST OUT OF THE GATE WITH SCIENCE INTEGRITY RULES — Rules Ban Alteration of Technical Findings and Foster “Free Flow” of Scientific Data

January 31, 2011  COURT ORDERS REDO OF FEDERAL ORV PLAN FOR MILLIONS OF ACRES IN CALIFORNIA'S WEST MOJAVE DESERT —

January 31, 2011  SAFETY OF RIO GRANDE DAMS IN QUESTION — U.S. Agency Sued to Disclose Flooding Maps, Emergency Plans and Dam Conditions

January 26, 2011  FEDS DROP EFFORT TO SALVAGE BISON RANGE TRIBAL PACT — Refuge Has Not Rehired Staff After Tribal Funding Agreement Rescinded

January 24, 2011  WILL EPA SIT OUT SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY RULE-MAKING? — Memo Implies EPA Will Not Clarify Scientists’ Right to Publish or Speak with Media

January 20, 2011  CHEMICAL CAUSED NERVE DAMAGE TO MILITARY BASE WORKERS — Alaska Health Report Cannot ID Agent, Urges Permanent Paving for Base Site

January 19, 2011  FEDERAL COUGAR HUNTERS MUST OBEY CALIFORNIA LAW — Fish & Game Contractors Cannot Evade Ban on Leg Snares and Other Inhumane Practices

January 18, 2011  LABOR DEPARTMENT WHIFFS ON WHISTLEBLOWER REFORM — Internal Review Prescribes Mish-Mash of Minor Repairs, Avoids Structural Defects

January 13, 2011  CALL TO REVOKE LEED CREDITS FOR COAL ASH — Toxic Coal Combustion Wastes Should Not Be Considered “Green” Material

January 12, 2011  ST. JOHNS RIVER MUNICIPAL POLLUTER OUT OF CONTROL — Call for Federal Enforcement against Northeast Florida Wastewater Plant

January 11, 2011  TERESA CHAMBERS RESTORED AS CHIEF OF THE U.S. PARK POLICE — Resounding Legal Victory Appears to Finally Resolve 7-Year Whistleblower Case

January 11, 2011  EPA CRIMINAL PROGRAM REFORMS COMING UNDONE — Restoration of Removed Managers Risks Renewed Exodus of Special Agents

January 10, 2011   FEDS YANK GE CROPS FROM ALL NORTHEAST REFUGES— Settlement of Bombay Hook Suit Makes Southeast Refuges Next Legal Target

January 6, 2011  PAY-TO-PLAYERS TAKE OVER JERSEY ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCY — Corporate Political Donors Control DEP Toxic Clean-Up Oversight and Rulemaking