http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=565
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility News Release
(www.peer.org)
August 4, 2005
Contact: Chas Offutt (202) 265-7337
AGENCY REBUFFS INFORMATION REQUEST IN "SCOTCHGARD"
WHISTLEBLOWER CASE — Issues Raised By Minnesota Scientist
Are At Core Of Senator’s Letter
Minnesota - The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has failed
to turn over information related to Scientist Fardin Oliaei’s
research on contamination stemming from release of PFCs and PBDEs*
into the environment. Minnesota State Senator John Marty, who
Chairs the Environment & Natural Resources Committee, issued
a letter outlining 11 categories of information that have not
been received despite a previous meeting and letter to the Minnesota
Pollution Control Agency requesting additional information, according
to documents released by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
(PEER).
Senator Marty’s August 3, 2005 letter to Marvin Hora, Manager
of Water Assessment & Environmental Information at MPCA, requested
that the agency “provide the rest of the information now.”
The information originally outlined in a May 12, 2005 letter indicated
that there were “a number of legislators interested in the
research scientists and aquatic toxicologists at the MPCA making
it a priority to investigate and help establish safe levels of
these chemicals in our water.”
Senator Marty’s letter identified several important categories
of information that had not been turned over, including -
• MPCA’s research priorities and the criteria used
to select research proposals every year since 2003, and the justification
for those priorities;
• Information from Dr. Oliaei on toxicity and the levels
of exposure we should be concerned about - for adults as well
as for children and pregnant women;
• Information on the status of Dr. Oliaei’s proposal
for a five year statewide environmental monitoring and biomonitoring
program of PFCs in MN; and
• A fact sheet to be produced by Dr. Oliaei on PFCs.
MPCA also failed to turn over information regarding barriers
that might have prevented Dr. Oliaei from sharing this information
with Minnesota legislators. Senator Marty stated:
This information is even more pertinent now, because the response
we received from our letter to her came from you, not her. In
addition, we saw media reports of a whistleblower lawsuit shortly
after that, in which she alleged that she was being harassed by
the MPCA because of her research and communications on these issues.
“The Senator’s letter is right on target,”
stated PEER General Counsel Richard Condit, a leading whistleblower
attorney who is assisting in the case. “The Agency has continued
their attempts to silence Dr. Oliaei and the concerns she raised
by giving legislators the run around.”
"Dr. Oliaei is an excellent scientist who has genuine concerns
about the state of the environment in Minnesota. It is critical
that members of the State Legislature investigate how MPCA is
dealing with important environmental issues and how the agency
is trying to silence and drive out a highly skilled and conscientious
employee", said Rockford Chrastil of the Minneapolis firm
of Chrastil and Steinberg who is serving as the lead attorney
in the case.
Scientist Fardin Oliaei, the coordinator for the Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency program on emerging contaminants, sought to open
investigations into chemicals used in the manufacture of nationally
distributed products, such as Scotchgard, Teflon, Stainmaster
and Gore-Tex. Manufactured by 3M, the chemicals, known as perfluorochemical
compounds or PFCs, do not break down in the environment and bio-accumulate
in living tissue. While not yet categorized as a human carcinogen,
PFCs have caused birth defects and deaths in animal studies. 3M
began to phase out manufacture of the chemicals in 2000, but it
is estimated that hundreds of thousands of pounds remain in the
environment.
After Dr. Oliaei discovered PFC contamination in half of the
fish she examined from what are considered pristine waters of
Voyageurs National Park, the agency denied her repeated request
to broaden the investigation. On May 16, 2005, Dr. Oliaei filed
a federal whistleblower complaint based on actions taken against
her by the agency.
###
Read Senator John Marty’s August 3, 2005 letter
See the May 16, 2005 PEER press release
* Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are among the most widely
used of the brominated flame retardants. PBDEs are of increasing
concern to scientists and regulatory agencies because of their
ubiquitous presence in the environment and bioaccumulation in
humans, wildlife and aquatic organisms. Environmental distribution
and concentrations of PBDEs in humans are of concern due to their
association with endocrine disruption, reproductive toxicity,
and developmental neurotoxicity.
• Whistleblower case: Fardin
Oliaei v. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
• Lettter
from Minnesota State Senator John Marty to Marvin Hora, Minnesota
Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).