On Wednesday, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which defends whistleblowers and uncovers wrongdoing in energy and environmental agencies, sent a letter to CSB, requesting it recover the misspent funds by Katherine Lemos, a former President Donald Trump appointee who led the agency before resigning last year. The organization estimates that Lemos received roughly $100,000 in “improper payments” charged to the chemical safety board’s budget.
“The amount of money wasted on Ms. Lemos’ unauthorized travel, media training, and office redecorating is substantial for a small agency like the CSB with an outsized mission,” Tim Whitehouse, PEER’s executive director, said in the letter sent to CSB’s board members.