E-M:/ EPA shutting down enforcement officials

EPA tells staff don't talk to investigators, press

By DINA CAPPIELLO

AP
posted: 54 MINUTES AGO

WASHINGTON -The Environmental Protection Agency is telling its pollution enforcement officials not to talk with congressional investigators, reporters and even the agency's own inspector general, according to an internal e-mail provided to The Associated Press.
The June 16 message instructs 11 managers in the EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, the branch of the agency charged with making sure environmental laws are followed, to remind their staff members to keep quiet.
Snip:

The EPA is currently under pressure from several congressional committees to disclose documents relating to its position on global warming and its denial of a petition by California to control greenhouse gases from motor vehicles. Just last week, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson denied a request to appear before two Senate committees to discuss whether the agency's decisions comply with its staff's technical and legal recommendations.
Snip:

Sen. Barbara Boxer, the California Democrat who heads the Senate environment committee, said Monday the administrator had turned "the EPA into a secretive, dangerous ally of polluters, instead of a leader in the effort to protect the health and safety of the American people."

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On the Net:
EPA e-mail: http://www.peer.org/docs/epa/08_28_7_gag_order.pdf