Bush Administration Takes Whistleblower Protection From EPA Employees

Public Employees for Enivronmental Responsibility (PEER) recently reported that the Bush Administration has declared itself immune from whistleblower protections for federal workers under the Clean Water Act, according to legal documents obtained by PEER. As a result of an unpublished legal opinion issued on September 23, 2005 by a unit within the Office of the Attorney General, federal workers will have little protection from official retaliation for reporting water pollution enforcement breakdowns, manipulations of science or cleanup failures. Citing an unpublished opinion of the Attorney General’s Office of Legal Counsel, the Secretary of Labor’s Administrative Review Board ruled, on May 31, 2006, that federal employees may no longer pursue whistleblower claims under the Clean Water Act.  As a result, employees of EPA and other federal agencies who are retaliated against for uncovering these violations cannot seek protection under the Clean Water Act.

For more information on the stealth repeal of Clean Water Act whistleblower protection see http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=743