Professional Documents
Culture Documents
u The Congressman and the Forest Fire: A Modern Morality Tale, page 4
INSIDE u
u
New Battle of Little Bighorn, page 6
New Jersey Parks Stay Open by Collecting Rent, page 8
From the Executive Director
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 PEER DC Headquarters Staff
tel: 315-364-7495 fax: 315-364-7810 email: refugekeeper@peer.org
Executive Director • Jeff Ruch
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tel: 530-333-2545 fax: 530-333-1113 email: capeer@peer.org Legal • Paula Dinerstein & Adam Draper
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tel: 303-316-0809 fax: 303-322-4689 email: rmpeer@peer.org Member • Louis Clark (G.A.P. President)
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PEEReview
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Dangerous Interior
An Inspector General audit concludes that the Interior De- breathing smoke, fumes and dust for years, is the height of
partment suffers from serious health and safety deficiencies irresponsibility” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch,
“which result in inadequate protection of employees and the noting the HQ modernization began in 2002 and will continue
public”. The audit, which PEER released during “Interior Safe- until 2012. PEER is seeking evacuation of the construction
ty Week,” found that – zones and health check-ups for affected workers.
• Interior’s “employee accident rate is one of the highest One recurrent theme in the IG audit is the lack of leadership
in the federal government” yet data on accident causes is at Interior on safety issues. The Interior official responsible for
“missing” or “cannot be tracked” in more than a quarter of safety management is Deputy Assistant Secretary Paul Hoff-
incidents; man, a former Dick Cheney aide who was banished from over-
• More than one in five of employees responding to an IG seeing the Park Service after several ham-handed rewrites
survey feel “uncorrected serious health and safety issues of scientific assessments and policies. Not surprisingly, less
exist at my workplace”; and than half of those working under Hoffman believes “health and
safety is a priority of senior level management.”
• The Interior headquarters modernization (profiled in Win-
ter ’06 PEEReview) is still generating many complaints as “Paul Hoffman is the last person who should be in charge of
“employees continue to express concerns regarding their employee health and safety,” added Ruch, noting that Hoff-
health that they attribute to working in the building.” man was the official who removed U.S. Park Police Chief Te-
resa Chambers in 2004 for raising safety problems.
“Keeping office workers in the middle of a construction site,
Summer 2008
U.S. Forest Service
The Congressman & the Forest Fire: A Morality Tale
F
or more than four demand letter for the original $4,747.18 amount, stating that it “has
years, a prominent agreed to waive all past interest and penalties” but had no records
Republican con- explaining how this agreement was reached. Brown finally paid
gressman refused to pay on April 20, 2008 – more than four years after the fire.
charges assessed by the
U.S. Forest Service for a Adding injury to insult, on May 27, 2008 the Forest Service nar-
fire he set which burned out rowed its fire rules to require proof of negligence for a citation
of control. Political inter- if the blaze was a “prescribed fire” – making it more difficult to
vention repeatedly delayed pursue such cases in the future.
both billing and collecting To sum up, the Forest Service spent well more than $100,000 to
from U.S. Representative finally collect less than $5,000 from Rep. Brown. In the process,
Henry Brown (R-SC), in- A Distinguished Member. Rep. Brown the agency weakened its defense against illegal forest fires. Thus
cluding a delinquent pay- sits on the National Parks, Forests & ends a modern morality tale of life in our Capitol.
ment demand that was re- Public Lands Subcommittee.
tracted this March, only to
be re-issued in April with more than $1,000 in penalties waived. The Special-est Counsel Ever
The original incident occurred back on March 5, 2004, when In our winter issue we updated you on the extremely odd
Brown set a prescribed burn on his property on a day in which a and troubling activities of U.S. Special Counsel Scott
“Red Flag Alert” was issued due to high winds. The fire quickly Bloch (“Bizarre Bloch”), who heads the office that is sup-
crossed over into the Francis Marion National Forest. A helicop- posed to assist and defend federal whistleblowers. Well,
ter, three fire engines and a bulldozer were needed to bring it under since then it has only gotten weirder.
control. The official review found that Brown was negligent:
On May 6th, FBI agents swooped down on the Office of
“Mr. Brown was not adequately prepared to detect, or ad- Special Counsel (OSC) and Bloch’s home, armed with
equately equipped to suppress, the escaped fire on 5 March court-ordered subpoe-
2004 with only two men, a bucket of water, and no means of nas in a wide-ranging
obstruction of justice Blog Me a River
delivery of that water to the escaped fire.”
investigation. Besides Several OSC staff have de-
Policy requires collection of all fire suppression costs, but, after Bloch, seventeen other scribed for CongressDaily
meeting with Brown, USDA Undersecretary Mark Rey blocked OSC employees (nearly how a media-obsessed and
collection. In fact, the agency did not even issue a criminal notice a fifth of its staff) were thin-skinned Bloch routinely
of violation (a $250 fine) for six months and then only after law also subpoenaed. ordered them to post favor-
enforcement agents filed a whistleblower complaint that PEER These obstruction able comments on blogs
aired. charges arose out of a and “comment” sections of
complaint from PEER, online news articles under
In 2005 the Forest Service pseudonyms (in one case
sent Brown a bill for costs other groups and OSC
staff against Bloch for a posing as a war veteran).
totaling $4747.18 – but he
litany of malfeasance, Among the many ironies is
refused to pay. Finally, in
such as retaliating that Bloch has prosecuted
March 2008, the agency sent
against dissidents, po- federal workers for even
Rep. Brown a demand letter liticizing enforcement,
for $5773.03 (the original mildly political e-mails. An-
imposing illegal gag or- other is how remarkably
bill “plus accrued interest, ders, and dumping more ineffective Bloch’s blog-
penalty and administrative than 1,000 whistleblower roots effort has been, as
costs”) via certified mail; cases. his favorable fake posts are
that letter, however, was in-
PEER is urging Con- swamped in a sea of nega-
tercepted and withdrawn. tive coverage (much of it
gress to abolish OSC
On March 18, 2008, PEER and instead allow whis- generated by PEER). And if
filed a Freedom of Informa- tleblowers themselves to Bloch is thin-skinned about
Friend in a High Place. bad press, his entire tenure
Undersecretary Rey, a former timber tion Act request for relevant pursue a range of rem-
edies through mediation must have been the torture
lobbyist, repeatedly interceded to block records. On April 9, the For-
enforcement against Congressman or litigation. of the damned.
est Service issued a “revised”
Brown.
PEEReview
Minerals Management Service
F Top Spin
ederal agencies issued permits for oil detailed plans for monitoring and report-
exploration in vast areas of the Arc- ing, including independent peer-review to
tic Ocean without verifying industry ensure the reliability of industry represen- Since Shell Oil Company re-en-
claims or imposing required safeguards tations. Yet, according to agency e-mails, tered the Arctic market in 2005, it
against damage to wildlife, according to these requirements were set aside in the has avidly acquired the services
agency e-mails released by PEER. Intense rush to get permits approved in time for oil of an array of former Bush admin-
political pressure to speed Arctic leasing companies to take advantage of the 2008 istration officials who previously
coupled with tardy industry submission of “open water” season, when the Arctic ice worked in the U.S. Interior Depart-
any data resulted in official rubber-stamp- recedes enough for ship traffic. ment overseeing Outer Continen-
ing of permits without review or follow- tal Shelf oil and gas issues. As a
up. This May, a coalition of conservation and consequence, many of the federal
Alaska native groups sued federal agencies managers who recently oversaw
These permits govern how much adverse on precisely this absence of required en- the Interior Arctic program have
effect from exploration may occur on ma- vironmental verifications. This is just the now crossed over to pursue the
rine mammals, particularly whales. The latest of a number of lawsuits to stop the opportunities they helped create
principal concern is noise from industry Bush administration from opening millions in their former public positions, in-
use of powerful seismic air-guns, high in- of square miles of the Chukchi, Beaufort cluding the former –
tensity sonar and explosives detonations in and Bering Seas to oil and gas before year’s
• Special Assistant to the Inte-
its search for promising geology on the sea end. “This is a race against the clock and
rior Secretary for Alaska;
floor. the oil companies have already lapped their
so-called regulators,” concluded PEER Ex- • Alaska Minerals Manage-
By regulation, these permits must have ecutive Director Jeff Ruch. ment Service (MMS) Regional
Supervisor for Leasing and
Environment; and
• Associate Director of the
MMS Offshore Minerals Man-
agement Program.
Shell’s acquisition of Bush admin-
istration figures also includes For-
mer Interior Secretary Gale Nor-
ton, now general counsel for U.S.
Endangered Bowheads. Seismic drumbeats will drive wildlife populations out of the exploration and production.
exploration areas.
Top EPA Official Fired at Off-Shore Drill Plans Assume Future of Cheap Oil
Behest of Dow Chemical With gasoline prices topping $4 a gallon impacts from exploration. Moreover, the
The Bush administration has sum- and a barrel of oil costing more than $130, false assumption of low oil prices is used
marily fired its top EPA official for the the federal government is basing its Arctic to argue that offshore lease sales will have
Great Lakes Region because she in- offshore drilling plans on the assumption minimal adverse environmental effects be-
sisted on taking enforcement action that oil is cheap and will remain so – only cause –
against Dow Chemical for creating $30 a barrel and not rising beyond $46 a
• The chances of oil spills would be
dioxin hot spots. The final straw was barrel by 2012, according to agency re-
diminished because the price would
when Mary Gade sent a team to test cords posted by PEER. These vast under-
be too low to justify extensive produc-
the soil near the Dow facility in Sagi- estimates are based on forecasts which the
naw, Michigan, a move that drew ob- tion; and
Bush administration refuses to update for
jections from EPA HQ. The agency fear of slowing Arctic lease sales. • There would be no economic incen-
claims Gade resigned to “spend tive to penetrate pristine areas vital to
time with her family.” However, By deliberately understating the price of
wildlife;
Gade said “There is no question this oil, the Minerals Management Service
is about Dow. I stand behind what I (MMS) claims that it would not be eco- Not surprisingly, MMS found that drilling
did and what my staff did. I’m proud nomically feasible to require oil companies for oil in Arctic waters would have no sig-
of what we did.” So are we. to conduct extensive mitigation of adverse nificant environmental impact.
Summer 2008
National Park Service
New Battle of Little Bighorn
A
plan to build an expanded visitor which does not visually intrude on the
center at the Little Bighorn Battle- landscape.
field National Monument in Mon-
tana has sparked heated opposition from As recently as last year, the National Park
historians, two former park superintendents Service itself conceded that the project
and conservation groups, spearheaded by would have an “adverse impact” on the
PEER. Under the plan, an enclosed the- battlefield but reversed that finding without
ater seating 200 people would be built at explanation. According to a legal analysis
the base of Last Stand Hill, site of the cli- by PEER, the plan appears to be at odds
max of the battle which is the park’s raison with the National Environmental Policy
d’être. Act, the National Historic Preservation Act
and the Service’s own Management Poli-
Although the site is now occupied in part by cies. Nonetheless, on April 23, 2008, the
a patio attached to the current visitor center, National Park Service (NPS) cleared the
the expansion has drawn heavyweight op- project for construction as early as this
position, led by former Park Service Chief summer.
Historian Robert Utley, because it would –
“The latest Park Service finding that this
• Occupy the heart of the battlefield project would have ‘no significant impact’
and intrude on the historic landscape; does not stand up to scrutiny,” stated PEER Hubris Honored. In 1876, General George
Senior Counsel Paula Dinerstein, pointing Armstrong Custer and five companies of the
• Contradict the 1986 General Man- to NPS policies that are supposed to pre- 7th Cavalry were famously wiped out.
agement Plan (GMP) for the park vent the agency from placing itself between
which envisions a new visitor center visitors and the park resource. “A theater view its appropriateness, legality and im-
near where the battle started and out of to display an NPS-produced film should pact on the historic battlefield but she has
the battle sightlines; and not be in the middle of the very battlefield yet to answer. Given the construction time-
• Violate the philosophy of historic it is supposed to present.” table, PEER is preparing to take the Park
preservation embodied by the much- Service to federal court to enjoin the proj-
PEER has written to NPS Director Mary ect, thus sparking yet a new battle at Little
praised new Gettysburg visitor center, Bomar asking her to halt the plan and re- Bighorn.
PEEReview
National Park Service
Bison Family Values – and Yellowstone’s Folly
T
his year, more than half of Yellow-
stone National Park’s bison have
perished. The park has sent a re-
cord number of the park’s Plains Bison,
almost one-third of the park’s total buffalo
population, to slaughter. In late March, the
Government Accountability Office issued a
highly critical report blasting Yellowstone’s of hazing they are subjected to during the lowstone seems determined to perpetuate.
failure to monitor the consequences of its winter. The net result is that Yellowstone’s
management actions on the park’s bison. supposedly free-ranging bison are behav- “If, as it claims, Yellowstone is using the
In April, PEER called on National Park ing like displaced refugees. best available science to manage its bison
Service Director Mary Bomar to convene herds then it should welcome independent
a panel of outside experts to evaluate the Dysfunctional populations propagate much review,” stated PEER Executive Director
park’s bison management program. None- faster than functional ones. All are trying to Jeff Ruch, pointing out that Yellowstone
theless, Yellowstone bulls ahead, disas- form families for survival in haste, whether has blocked all outside monitoring of its bi-
trously. there is graze available or not. This is ag- son operations. “The Park Service mission
gravated by more overgrazing of grass-type statement says that it is supposed to ‘pre-
Despite the tremendous bison losses, the plants by bison afraid to spread out. Con- serve the inherent integrity’ of its wildlife
park insists bison are in no danger because sequently, the bison carrying capacity of but it is hard to see how the ‘inherent integ-
there is sufficient population density to sur- the park drops each year – spurring even rity’ of Yellowstone’s bison is enhanced by
vive. Analogize this to humans. If more more outmigration, a no-win situation Yel- treating them like stray cattle.”
than half the human population of Wyo-
ming was wiped out would the effects be
dismissed because the survivors were not
The Bison That Do Not Migrate
in danger of extinction? The original, native bison in Yellowstone Bob Jackson, a 30-year Yellowstone ranger
National Park shun human contact and nev- and recognized bison behavioral expert, ar-
A sustainable population of herd animals,
er migrate beyond their remote backcoun- gues that the park’s “all buffaloes are alike”
such as elephants and bison, has less to do
try range. As record numbers of Plains attitude is endangering the park’s original
with population density and more to do
Bison are slaughtered this year for leaving bison population, now numbering around
with family structure. Yellowstone’s big-
park boundaries, the Mountain Bison face 300:
gest folly may be its unwillingness to rec-
a quieter threat of human incursion deep
ognize “bison family values.” • The range of the Mountain Bison
into their sanctuaries, according to a PEER
analysis. between Pelican Valley in winter and
In Yellowstone, bison families are becom-
Mirror Plateau in summer has been cut
ing more and more fractured, embattled and
Despite recognition in the historic annals of in half by human encroachment; and
fearful. The park is actually aggravating its
Yellowstone that Mountain Bison are dis-
bison migration problems by feeding hay to • The park does not shelter Mountain
tinct, the park itself recognizes no such dif-
brucellosis-free bison on its north bound- Bison from unwanted human intru-
ference. The Mountain Bison are thought to
ary. The released bison will migrate north sion, such as placing horse camps in-
be the direct descendants of Yellowstone’s
next winter in search of food, thus reinforc- side their summer range.
prehistoric buffalo. Unlike the Plains Bi-
ing conditions leading to slaughter.
son, the Mountain Bison do not tolerate the “Yellowstone Park shows zero curiosity
“Yellowstone knows the danger of habitu- presence of humans and stay deep within about why and how the Mountain Bison are
ating wildlife, as it found out in the 1960’s their forested haunts in the park’s rugged different,” Jackson said.
and 70’s with the ‘garbage dump bears’ upper elevations.
which became dependent on human-pro-
vided food,” said long-time former back-
country ranger Bob Jackson. “Despite ad-
Birds Don’t Vote
mitting concerns about habituating bison, Conservation groups had to sue Cape Hatteras National Seashore to stop
make no mistake the park is doing precise- illegal off-road vehicle traffic in nesting areas of endangered piping plovers
ly that.” and other shore birds. The resulting court order has sparked repeated van-
dalism against closure signs and an act of legislative vandalism in the form
Indiscriminate herd reductions means of a bill by three North Carolina Republicans (Sens. Dole and Burr plus Rep.
families are broken and insecure. These Walter Jones) to open the beach again to driving.
remnants feel further under siege because
Summer 2008
New Jersey
Cup of New Jersey
W
hile New Jersey is one of the richest states in the nation
on a per capita basis, in recent months the administra-
tion of Gov. Jon Corzine is leading his state in a fren-
zied rush to the bottom. He is pushing a series of dangerous en-
vironmental rollbacks in the name of fiscal distress and a sluggish
economy. The mantra is to make New Jersey more competitive
(with states like Mississippi and, for that matter, Bangladesh). In
just the past few months, the Garden State has –
• Convened an industry-dominated task force to re-write
permit standards and practices, although the precise problem
with current standards has never been articulated;
• Proposed to completely privatize toxic clean-ups while ad-
mitting that the current system of partial privatization “is bro-
ken” because developers do not report hazardous conditions;
Condemned Coast. DEP just green-lighted condos for this beach, one of
• Stopped tracking real estate transactions involving former the few remaining undeveloped stretches of Jersey shore. PEER has filed
industrial sites to ensure that they contain no buried hazardous ethics charges about under-the-table favors for the developer.
wastes; • Adopted chemical plant safety regulations that are volun-
• Dropped proposed standards to protect groundwater from tary, a move warmly praised by the chemical industry and
chemical pollution dumped at waste sites or leaking from un- condemned by plant unions; and
derground tanks and pipelines; • Unveiled a long-awaited plan to protect hundreds of stream
miles from development that was so full of loopholes it did
At Least the Parks not even protect the site of the 2007 Earth Day press confer-
ence used to kick off the promulgation process.
Will Not Close “More pollution is not the answer to New Jersey’s economic
woes,” argued New Jersey PEER Director Bill Wolfe, who is on
Gov. Jon Corzine has backed away from his plan to the front line of the chaotic situation in which a dispirited Depart-
close several state parks due to fiscal distress. In ad- ment of Environmental Protection (DEP) appears to be in freefall.
dition, Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Damage signs include –
employees will not face imminent lay-offs.
• Finding yet another public school atop a polluted former
In April, Corzine proposed closing several parks serving industrial site that had not been tested to ensure its safety, de-
an estimated two million visitors each year and laying spite legislation enacted last year in the wake of similar scan-
off 80 park workers in order to save the state roughly dals from toxic-laden schools and day-care centers, includ-
$4.5 million. Documents uncovered by PEER, however, ing one in an old, mercury-filled thermometer factory {see
show DEP is forfeiting millions of dollars by not collect- PEEReview Spring ‘07};
ing owed rents and other payments from big corpora-
tions holding easements and concessions on park lands. • Losing more than 15,000 acres of open space each year to
Lack of lease agreements, rent-free arrangements, and sprawl, including beaches, stream buffers and floodplains, as
outdated decades-old leases are also common through- any semblance of “smart growth” seems to be dead; and
out the system. DEP has ignored three audit reports
• Spiraling investigations into a $212 million, largely unse-
(in 1997, 1999 and 2003) citing poor internal financial
cured state loan to a project for a failed toxic clean-up that
controls needed to track lease payments owed.
went bankrupt, leaving taxpayers to pay a multi-million dollar
“I am glad someone finally listened to reason,” stated tab.
New Jersey PEER Director Bill Wolfe, noting that Cor-
It has gotten so bad that the U.S. EPA is considering asserting
zine’s plan to close parks made little fiscal sense since
it required hiring state workers to chase the public away control over mismanaged state-supervised clean-ups. “New Jer-
from the parks that the public owns. “Collecting rent is a sey used to have the strongest clean-up program in the country
basic step that should have been examined before an- but now it is among the worst,” Wolfe concluded. “We should be
nouncing that parks will be closed to the public.” embarrassed that George Bush’s EPA has to step in and take over
pollution control in our state.”
PEEReview
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
America’s Most Imperiled Refuges Saving the Whales
N from Dick Cheney
ational Wildlife Refuges
are supposed to shelter
countless migratory wa- Legislation is moving in both houses
terfowl, native mammals, reptiles of Congress to lift the White House
and amphibians, but many ref- stranglehold blocking vital, long-over-
uges themselves are under siege, due rules to protect the highly endan-
according to a new PEER report. gered North Atlantic right whale from
Destructive intrusion ranges from ship strikes, the leading cause of mor-
industrial activities, such as min- tality. Vice President Dick Cheney
ing and drilling, to recreational has emerged as the one responsible for
abuse, such as off-road vehicle keeping the anti-ship strike rules (pro-
traffic, but the common thread filed in our fall issue) in limbo.
linking all these threats is politi- Key Deer and Counting. Highway accidents and illegal
Following a three-year PEER cam-
cal pressure to put the interests of roadside feeding contribute to 70% of the annual mortality
of this endangered deer species, which also faces many paign, the National Oceanic and Atmo-
wildlife second.
other hazards from close human contact, such as getting spheric Administration formally pro-
The National Wildlife Refuge tangled in wire and debris, and dog attacks. posed speed limits of 10 knots (or 11.5
System was commissioned by miles per hour) for shipping along the
President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903 (CO) – oil and gas drilling; eastern seaboard during right whale mi-
when he designated Florida’s Pelican Is- gration between Florida and New Eng-
• Buenos Aires National Wildlife land – more than two years ago, on June
land as America’s first wildlife refuge. To-
Refuge (AZ) – uncontrolled off-road 26, 2006.
day the system encompasses more than 540
vehicle abuse; and
refuges in all 50 states.
Further delays threaten this species
• San Pablo Bay and Marin Islands with extinction, as the right whale has
Based upon interviews with refuge staff,
National Wildlife Refuges (CA) reached an official “Potential Biologi-
PEER identified the Ten Most Imperiled
– water pollution and sprawl. cal Removal” level of zero, meaning
Refuges in the U.S., spanning the nation
from Alaska’s Yukon to the Florida Keys: “Refuges are slices of natural habitat vital that the population cannot sustain the
to wildlife that are especially vulnerable to premature loss of even one more whale.
• Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife If Congress does not act, the fate of the
the major human interferences highlighted
Refuge (AZ) – border wall and border right whale will be an urgent task for
in this report,” remarked Grady Hocutt, a
control issues; the next administration.
former long-time refuge manager who di-
• National Key Deer Refuge (FL) rects the PEER refuge program. “We hope
– sprawling development and auto that by drawing attention to the plight of We Brake for
Bow Hunters
traffic; these wildlife sanctuaries they stand a bet-
ter chance of surviving the jeopardy they
• National Bison Range (MT) – para- face.”
lyzing dispute over tribal demands for Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal has
refuge control; Already as a result of the report, the Shia- asked BLM to stop seismic surveys for
wassee National Wildlife Refuge was au- natural gas in the Little Mountain area
• Pea Island National Wildlife Ref- thorized to hire a law enforcement ranger during bow hunting season for elk and
uge (NC) – road construction; to help address urban crime spilling over antelope. Only four percent of applicants
• Yukon Flats National Wildlife Ref- from the adjacent city of Saginaw. qualify for an elk tag in the area, and the
uge (AK) – land exchange for oil & governor commented, “The opportunity
gas drilling; to hunt in the Little Mountain area is truly
a once-in-a-lifetime event, so it is critical
• Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge that the seismic survey not interfere
(NY) – limestone quarry;
with or diminish the experience.” Thus,
• Shiawassee National Wildlife Ref- wildlife will get a short respite from the
uge (MI) – agricultural pollution and horrendous thumping of geophysical
vandalism; exploration so they can more fully enjoy
the prey experience.
• Baca National Wildlife Refuge
Summer 2008
PEER Perspective
American Idol Runner-Ups
C C
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson New York Governor David Paterson
In no uncertain terms, Gov. Richardson has de- In rejecting a proposed liquefied natural gas ter-
clared his opposition to any dams on, or diversions minal in Long Island Sound, Gov. Paterson served
from, the Gila River, asking the legislature to protect the notice that he would promote energy conservation and
“state’s last free-flowing river” and “one of New Mexico’s efficiency. The planned floating LNG facility would not
treasures.” Richardson explained: “Politicians will say only hamper shipping but is a step in the wrong direction:
to you, ‘We can balance the environment and energy “Shame on us if we can’t develop a responsible energy
growth…and somehow also create jobs.’ But you know policy without sacrificing one of our greatest natural and
what? Sometimes you can’t do it. Sometimes you’ve just economic resources.”
D
got to say, ‘OK, this is a river. It’s going to be protected.
We’re not going to have these developments here. It’s not
David Hill, Energy Department General
going to happen. Leave it alone.’” Counsel
In a textbook case of how not to win Senate
D
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin confirmation, Hill, nominated to move over to become
In leading opposition to the federal listing of the EPA General Counsel, was asked by Sen. Barbara Boxer
polar bear as a threatened species, Gov. Palin (D-CA) if he thought it was “appropriate” for the White
stated that a “comprehensive review” by state House to overrule scientific decisions or to order EPA to
wildlife officials found the federal science did not support “do something illegal.” Hill said yes, because in a “unitary
listing. Well, Alaska has no executive” all agencies must
polar bear specialists (it laid “Alligators proliferate in Florida. They eat small obey the President. Based on
them all off) but its three ma- dogs. We don’t need to market them; we need to this answer, Boxer’s commit-
rine mammal biologists found kill them. . . . Is this open to the press?” tee rejected Hill’s nomination,
“the methods and analytical thus extending the vacancy
approaches used to examine the — Former Governor Jeb Bush (the “smart brother”) at caused by the abrupt resigna-
currently available information a Miami business conference after pronouncing himself tion of EPA General Counsel
supports the primary conclu- only “light green” and a global warming skeptic Roger Martella (whom PEER
sions” reached by the feds, ac- opposed) after little more than
cording to e-mails obtained in a year on the job. Here’s a tip:
a records request by University of Alaska professor Rick if you are nominated for an attorney job and asked if you
Steiner. An embarrassed deputy state Fish & Game com- will rubberstamp illegal orders, just say no.
missioner admitted, “We have a lot of different opinions out
C
there” – apparently enough to allow Gov. Palin to cherry
Ryan Walz, Idaho Department of
pick what few that agree with her.
Transportation
C
Laurie Williams and Allan Zabel, EPA As if there are not enough cattle grazing in Idaho,
Two EPA lawyers based in San Francisco felt a there is a plan to bring cattle into the state parks. The man-
need to warn Congress that the principal plan it ager of the Massacre Rocks State Park thinks cows can help
is considering to combat global warming may not work as control invasive plants while fertilizing the soil. Half the
intended due to EPA’s inability to verify greenhouse gas park is owned by the state Department of Transportation
emissions or effectively police a cap-and-trade market, and operated by the park under a scenic easement. Over-
making it an “inefficient and ineffective strategy.” The seeing that easement is right-of-way-supervisor Ryan Walz
two, who are married to each other, received clearance from who thinks the cattle plan may violate scenic standards
EPA so long as they disclaimed agency endorsement of and is nutty, to boot – “I was raised on a cattle ranch [and]
their views. They signed their open letter (displayed on the I can’t imagine anyone wanting to go camping or hiking
PEER website) to Congress as “Citizens and Parents.” where there’s been cattle.”
10 PEEReview
Tennessee
This Time It’s Local – Battle for Bells Bend
B
ells Bend of the Cumberland River dents, including Tennessee PEER Director
is cut off from much of Nashville Barry Sulkin.
by the river and steep hills, which
have so far naturally preserved the area Bells Bend recently received national at-
from sprawl – but not without effort. After tention when the New York Times profiled
turning back earlier plans for a landfill, and a pair of rare and endangered whooping
then a mega-subdivision, Bells Bend, the cranes which landed on a local farm and
last great rural area of Nashville, is now the took up residence for the winter. These
target of a planned satellite city called May five-foot tall birds, which shun noise and
Town Center, named after the developer development, have become symbols of the
brothers Jack and Frank May. competing values and conflicting visions
Bells Bend. Front line of battle to stop the
for the area’s future. sprawling “Atlanta-fication” of Nashville
This May Town Center plan dropped like a
bombshell this February, disrupting an on- The effort to stop the project and protect mous. Funds are being raised to pay for
going planning process to turn Bells Bend the area is being hosted by PEER, due to attorneys, economic analyses and other ex-
into a conservation district, modeled on the the many public employees and officials at penses for what promises to be a long fight.
Adirondacks State Park of New York. The all levels trying to stop the Atlanta-fication You can follow events and pitch in by go-
conservation plan is being led by area resi- of Nashville, some wanting to stay anony- ing to www.bellsbend.org.
Summer 2008 11
Department of Defense
Pentagon Taku Gardens
continued from page 1 continued from page 1
designed to minimize damage and protect and a forklift). By the time construction
specialists from reprisal, including – was halted, 79 units had been built but will
likely be torn down.
• Environmental Enforcement. On
military bases stretching from Florida An internal Army review was scathing in
to the mid-Pacific, PEER is prepar- faulting, among other lapses –
ing complaints, exposés and lawsuits
• Skewed decision-making in failing to
to vindicate concerns raised by belea-
halt construction when problems were
guered biologists and other resource
first discovered: “Who is in charge?
specialists (see sidebar story);
Lines of responsibility, accountability
• Wildlife Protection. In trying to and authority are muddled…”; and
prevent needless eradication of wild- Housing from Hell. Last year alone, the Army
• Failure to secure the contaminated removed more than 1,800 tons of PCB-tainted
life from mismanaged military readi-
construction site from nearby play- soils from Taku Gardens and hopes to complete
ness operations, PEER will sue to stop its next phase of clean-up by the end of 2010.
grounds: “Construction sites and
hundreds of underwater explosions set
equipment are child magnets…Exten- In contrast to the original investigation, the
off by the Navy in the sensitive shal-
sive guidance exists regarding this but second review found that “Any potential
lows of Puget Sound. To date, the Navy
none of it was adhered to.” violations of Federal or State law or regu-
has rejected any measures to minimize
harm to marine life; and lations by Government personnel would
“Taku Gardens is such a monumental
be minor and attributable to difference of
screw-up the Army cannot countenance
• Professional Integrity. After suc- interpretation” – a sentence repeated ver-
culpability because the reins of responsi-
cessful steps to protect resource spe- batim a numbing 15 times in the 21-page
bility run high up the chain-of-command,”
cialists from outsourcing, PEER will report. It did admit an extreme emphasis
said PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch,
strive to make those protections per- on rapid construction: “In one case [ap-
who estimated that taxpayers will waste
manent in the next administration. We plication processing] for a ‘Grow the Force
more than $150 million on the ill-fated
will also work to strengthen uncertain Project’ was recently done at Fort Wain-
project. “Before it is done, the Army will
whistleblower protections within the wright in 40 minutes with generic sites due
spend well more than $1 million for each
punishing new DOD personnel sys- to pressure from Washington level HQ.”
unit, meaning that it would have been far
tem.
cheaper to buy each family a mansion than PEER has asked the Pentagon Inspector
See future issues for updates. put them in Taku Gardens.” General to intervene.
Thank you!
Our gratitude goes out to our supporters, including
Abby Rockefeller, Linda Frick, Robert Henigson,
Howard Wilshire & Jane Nielson, Roald Cann and a
number of anonymous donors, for their generosity.
We also wish to express our deep appreciation to the
Alaska Conservation Foundation, EarthFriends Wild-
life Foundation, Environmental Endowment of New
Jersey, Firedoll Foundation, The Geoffrey C. Hughes
Foundation, The Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation,
and the William B. Wiener, Jr. Foundation Fund of the
Rockefeller Family Fund for their recent grant support.
The perfect gift for your favorite undercover activist –
socially conscious skivvies!
Symbolic of our work with anonymous public employee
activists, the only PEER apparel is not a T-shirt or a
baseball cap; it’s UNDERWEAR. PEER’s white cotton/
poly blend boxer shorts have the legend “Undercover
Activist” on the rear and the PEER logo silk-screened
on the right leg. PEER boxer shorts are the apparel
undercover activists can wear in the office! Now
available directly from PEER for $15.00/pair, includes
shipping and handling.
Available in Small (waist size 30-32), Large (38-40) and X-tra Large (42-44).
Order Form
Select your purchases on the order list below, fill out the reverse side of this
page, tear it off, and mail it to us in the enclosed envelope. Please include your
check made payable to PEER, or write your Visa or MasterCard number on the
other side. You can also order using Visa and MasterCard via phone at 202-265-
7337 or fax 202-265-4192.
Size Qty. Price Total
Undercover Activist boxers $15.00
Blue Frontier: Saving America’s Living Seas
$18.00
by David Helvarg
Choosing a Conservation Vocation or a
$14.00
Bureaucratic Career by Richard Kroger
Beloved of the Sky: Essays and Photographs
$9.00
on Clearcutting, by various authors
The Terrorist Next Door: The Militia
Movement and the Radical Right, by Daniel $16.00
Levitas
The Art of Anonymous Activism: Serving the
Public While Surviving Public Service by $10.00
PEER, GAP & POGO
All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the $15.00
Politics of Dignity by Robert Fuller
Membership dues/special contribution
TOTAL
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