By Douglas Main
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s inspector general concluded in a report released this week that three government scientists who filed disquieting complaints about their work within the agency under the Trump administration were indeed improperly treated.
The report concluded that the EPA scientists experienced retaliation for speaking out and scientifically disagreeing with leadership and others in the agency.
Most of the scientists had spoken out, internally, about disagreements concerning the safety of various chemicals, which was part of their work within the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics.
Among their concerns, the scientists claimed that the EPA was not doing enough to protect the public from health risks of multiple substances, and that industry pressure was affecting the agency’s ability to do its job properly.
The report notes that one scientist sought to classify a certain unidentified chemical as having “reproductive toxicity,” only for a senior advisor to remove this wording.
In response to the scientists disagreeing and speaking out, the EPA reassigned them, skipped them over for promotion, and generally harassed them, calling them “piranhas,” “problematic,” or “pot-stirrers,” according to the complaints. A copy of the employees’ complaint that identified them by name was sent around to senior leaders and individuals mentioned in the complaint, including former coworkers, according to the inspector general’s report.
“The Inspector General’s findings point to ongoing scientific integrity problems in EPA that directly endanger public health,” Kyla Bennett, a former EPA attorney and scientist who is now the science policy director for the watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which helped file three of the complaints, said in a statement.
“Many of the problems [identified] in EPA’s chemicals division under the Trump administration continue unabated today, despite the Biden Administration’s tweaks to the program,” said Bennett.
The scientists claimed that they were encouraged to delete information about chemicals’ risks or harms, including serious health issues such as cancers and neurological problems. In some cases, they said their managers deleted this information.
This report only addresses the issue of retaliation and improper treatment — a future document by the inspector general will address the researchers’ scientific claims.
“The EPA administrator has emphasized the agency’s commitment to scientific integrity and science-based decision-making,” wrote Inspector General Sean O’Donnell in a statement accompanying the report. “These reports, and many others we have issued over the last five years, demonstrate that more work is needed to meet that commitment.”
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