An EPA spokesperson said the whistleblower’s complaints are a bygone of the Trump administration, and the agency under President Joe Biden “has restored scientific integrity as the cornerstone of its work to protect public health and the environment, including reinstating key whistleblower protections that empower employees to share their own, differing scientific opinions.”
But Inspector General Sean O’Donnell isn’t convinced.
“The EPA administrator has emphasized the Agency’s commitment to scientific integrity and science-based decision-making,” O’Donnell said in a statement. “These reports, and many others we have issued over the last five years, demonstrate that more work is needed to meet that commitment.”
Kyla Bennett, science policy director for the group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility representing the five whistleblowers, said scientific integrity “has not gotten better” and there are still “serious problems.”