White House Produces No Evidence It Considered Public Input on Reorganizing Government
From: Government Executive “How could they not locate 100,000 comments?” Ruch said. “The White House call for public involvement in reforming government seems to have been merely a cynical stunt.” An OMB official did not comment on why the agency could not produce documents. &# ...
Bayview Residents Seek a Whopping $27 Billion For Navy’s Mess
From: SF Weekly “Last month, a watchdog group in Washington D.C., Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, revealed that the EPA suspected the fraud was further-reaching than initially thought. The document dump unleashed a torrent of fury and desperate questions regarding ...
BAYVIEW HUNTERS POINT RESIDENTS SUE U.S. NAVY CONTRACTOR OVER DATA FALSIFICATION
From: San Francisco Examiner “For more than a decade, Bayview community activists have called on local and state leaders to address environmental and health concerns impacting a largely African American population living near the contaminated former naval base. The shipyard was the ...
RUMORED NPS PERSONNEL MOVES REMINISCENT OF PAST ATTEMPTS TO EXERT POLITICAL WILL ON AGENCY
From: National Parks Traveler “President Trump reportedly favors chaos as a managerial tool, and proposed personnel changes at the National Park Service not only would insert that element into the agency’s upper echelon, but also be reminiscent of past efforts to gain political ...
YELLOWSTONE SUPERINTENDENT COULD BE REASSIGNED UNDER INTERIOR PROPOSAL
From: Yellowstone Insider “According to the Chronicle, the proposed reassignment comes as a surprise to organizations like the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. It also follows controversy over the reassignment of other Interior ...
POTENTIAL PARKS SHAKEUP WOULD MOVE YELLOWSTONE SUPERINTENDENT
From: Bozeman Daily Chronicle “Jeff Ruch said PEER believes acting National Park Service Director Danny Smith called the six people involved and informed them of the impending transfers. Ruch added that the employees must either accept such transfers or be removed from federal ...
PROPOSED SHAKE-UP AT NATIONAL PARK SERVICE COULD MAKE SENIOR LEADERS HIT THE ROAD
From: The Washington Post “These multiple moves resemble a purge and have no apparent management motivation other than to marginalize and disrupt,” said Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a frequent critic of the Interior ...
OFFICIALS CALL FOR INVESTIGATION OF ALLEGED RADIOACTIVE SOIL AT PITTSBURG LANDFILL
From: East Bay Times “The report uses terms you don’t usually see in bureaucratic transmissions — falsification, fraudulence — very strong language,” said Jeff Ruch, executive director of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility group, which obtained the EPA ...
SUPE CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION OF POSSIBLE RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS AT KELLER CANYON LANDFILL
From: SF Gate “Contra Costa County Supervisor Federal Glover is calling for an investigation of allegations that radioactive materials from San Francisco might have been deposited at Keller Canyon Landfill, Glover said Thursday.” Read more . . . Read the PEER story ...
ENVIRONMENT FIRM ACCUSED OF FRAUD IN HUNTERS POINT FIRES BACK IN DEFENSE
From: San Francisco Chronicle “While there has been wild speculation regarding the data collected at the site, we believe that any concerns can be directly addressed by actually retesting and analyzing the areas in question,” he said. “We want the Hunters Point community and the ...
TETRA TECH STANDS BY HUNTERS POINT RADIATION DATA
From: NBC Bay Area “”Independent retesting is a critical element of the Navy’s Hunters Point re-evaluation workplan,” Navy cleanup coordinator Derek Robinson wrote in an email to NBC Bay Area. “Its purpose is not to exonerate the contractors involved, but to offer a ...
DUNES ACTION ASKS PROSECUTOR TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGED PAVILION VIOLATIONS
From: Chesterton Tribune “On Wednesday, April 18, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and Dunes Action jointly reported two apparent violations of Indiana Code to Porter County Prosecuting Attorney Brian Gensel, related to what the two groups believe are ...
TETRA TECH SAYS IT WILL PAY FOR INDEPENDENT REVIEW IN DATA FALSIFICATION SCANDAL
From: San Francisco Examiner “Responding to mounting concerns by both federal agencies and community watchdog groups about the integrity of the company’s radiological testing and decontamination efforts at the Shipyard, which is slated for redevelopment with 12,000 units of housing ...
INDIANA DUNES STATE PARK PAVILION OPPONENTS ASK PORTER COUNTY PROSECUTOR TO STEP INTO THE FRAY
From: NWI.com “According to the letter, the two groups, which have been at odds with the DNR and Pavilion Partners since it came to light in 2015 that the state was seeking a private company to do renovations to the 90-year-old pavilion and other projects at the state park, are ...
FOREST SERVICE DOCUMENTS DON’T SHOW FIX FOR TONGASS TIMBER SALES
From: KTOO Public Media “An environmental advocacy organization says the U.S. Forest Service doesn’t appear to be taking steps to correct costly problems in Tongass timber contracts. The federal agency has released thousands of pages in response to its Freedom of Information Act ...
ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP CONTRACTOR SAYS HUNTERS POINT WORK WAS DONE BY THE BOOK
From: San Francisco Business Times “The Pasadena-based corporation has been accused of fraud by the Navy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bayview Hunters Point Community Advocates, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice and the Public Employees for Environmental ...
EPA HEAD SCOTT PRUITT HAS BEEN EMBROILED IN SCANDALS. HERE’S HOW HE’S SURVIVED
From: Time “Pruitt has reversed the trajectory at the EPA and placed business concerns on an even playing field with environmental protection. And, as a result, the most significant rules, including the Clean Power Plan and a rule regulating waterways across the country, are ...
DUNES GROUP ASKS PROSECUTOR TO REVIEW PAVILION PROJECT CONSTRUCTION PERMITS
From: Chicago Tribune “Dunes Action and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, have asked Porter County Prosecutor Brian Gensel to investigate what the two groups believe are unauthorized construction activities at the Indiana Dunes State Park pavilion.” ...
FLORIDA GOVERNOR RICK SCOTT IS GETTING SUED BY TEENS FOR HIS ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES
From: Teen Vogue “A report released by the Florida chapter of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility stated that in 2014 there was an 85% drop in environmental regulation cases opened by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection compared to 2010 numbers.” ...
OPERATING UNDER THE RADAR: TOP ZINKE AIDES UNDERMINE PROTECTIONS FOR PUBLIC LANDS AND ENDANGERED SPECIES
From: The Revelator “The Trump administration wants to avoid public scrutiny of Interior’s decisions and sidestep Congressional oversight. This is occurring while the department systematically dismantles policies designed to protect the multiple use of public lands, including ...
