US agency ATSDR neglects many communities near toxic waste sites

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From: OMB Watch

Toxic Communities Shafted by Health Agency, Report Shows

A federal agency responsible for studying and responding to adverse health effects caused by toxic waste is reticent to acknowledge patterns of illness near contaminated sites, according to a report released by the House Science Committee subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) often paints a rosy picture of the health in communities near toxic waste sites, according to the report. In the process, scientific integrity has been sacrificed. An ATSDR staffer told the subcommittee, “It seems like the goal is to disprove the communities’ concerns rather than actually trying to prove exposures.”

ATSDR is a key agency in implementing Superfund, the national toxic waste clean-up program. While EPA handles environmental assessment and remediation, ATSDR works on the health side, assessing community health and studying the links between toxic exposure and illness.

The report outlines several examples in which ATSDR has failed to serve in the best interest of communities at risk. In most cases, ATSDR simply doesn’t acknowledge the severity of the situation. From the subcommittee’s report:

[T]ime and time again ATSDR appears to avoid clearly and directly confronting the most obvious toxic culprits that harm the health of local communities throughout the nation. Instead, they deny, delay, minimize, trivialize or ignore legitimate concerns and health considerations of local communities and well respected scientists and medical professionals.

For example, after asbestos contaminate debris began washing up on an Illinois beach, the Illinois Department of Public Health and ATSDR released a report in 2000 that concluded “no apparent public health hazard exists.” The debris continued to wash up for years, and when ATSDR revisited the issue (in 2007) it once again concluded the beaches were safe from asbestos, according to the subcommittee’s report.

But tests from 2006 showed that asbestos had made its way into the sand on the beach, leading a local EPA office to object to a draft version of ATSDR’s findings, according to the subcommittee’s report. However, the final version went unchanged.

The subcommittee released the report in advance of an oversight hearing scheduled for Thursday at 10am. Current ATSDR head Dr. Howard Frumkin, of whom the report is quite critical, is scheduled to testify.

Image by Flickr user cpkatie, used under a Creative Commons license.

Update: Opening statements and witness testimony from Thursday's hearing are now available on the hearing webpage.

(Matthew Madia 03/11/09)

[Original OMB Watch article accepts comments]

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From: TreeHugger.com

US Toxic Substances Agency Found to be Dangerously Negligent

by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 03.11.09

Photo via All Around the House

The Agency of Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has a number of responsibilities. One of which is to determine whether or not it's safe for people to live near toxic dump sites. And one of which is not to "deny, delay, minimize, trivialize or ignore legitimate health concerns," as a recent report has charged the agency with frequently doing. Through poor analysis, failure to act, and possibly a deliberate intent to obscure findings, the ATSDR has left many people exposed to toxic substances, and at great health risk.

Imagine living near a Superfund site, or a something that looks and smells suspiciously like a toxic waste dump. It stinks, and some of your neighbors seem to have trouble breathing--you're worried you might be exposed to toxic materials. The ATSDR is the agency you were supposed to contact. So you did. And the agency would give leave you with findings "that are challenged by outside scientists or are ambiguous about whether people living near industrial pollution or toxic dumps or breathe foul-smelling air have reason to worry." Then, you get mad. And rightfully so.

According to the new report on the ATSDR, which was obtained by the Associated Press:

"Time and time again ATSDR appears to avoid clearly and directly confronting the most obvious toxic culprits that harm the health of local communities throughout the nation," said the report from the House Science and Technology investigations and oversight subcommittee.

And how might it do that? Well, the AP article chronicles some pretty mind boggling incidents that include: the agency publicly rebuking a doctor who revealed that an area once home to a toxic waste company was causing a high incidence of a blood cancer in people exposed to it, "overlooking" previous studies that showed a history of cancer and birth defects in a contaminated neighborhood (and declaring it safe), and ignoring the complaints and health ailments of residents near an Ohio waste plant before using an insufficient sampling to declare the area non-toxic.

The list goes on—that was just a sort of greatest hits reel from yet another Bush administration environmental group's many acts of startling incompetence.

But now, with criticism getting heaped on the ATSDR from the new report, outraged communities, and some of the agency's own scientists, perhaps it'll finally have to fess up for its ignorance and really, reckless endangerment of human welfare.

More on Toxic Sites:
How Toxic is Your City?
Superfund365: Where Toxic Waste Meets Art
The Toxic Trailer Legacy

[Original TreeHugger.com article accepts comments]

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• Let's Tour America's Toxic Waste: What's In Your Neigborhood? (firedoglake.com)

Please donate to Common Cause's project to help ensure transparency to stimulus funding

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From: Common Cause

Only two days left - donate today

Just 2 days left to reach our goal! Your donation to Common Cause will help ensure Recovery Act transparency and accountability. Donate today to help us reach our $50,000 goal by Friday.

Unless states enact transparency and accountability measures immediately, billions of dollars in economic stimulus funding could end up lining the pockets of lobbyists and contractors, funding the pet projects of special interests, or simply going to waste.

We can't let that happen. That's why Common Cause is working hard to launch a massive grassroots effort to ensure Recovery Act funds go where they're supposed to: towards boosting the economy, improving our infrastructure, and creating jobs.

Donate today, before it's too late to make sure our tax-dollars are spent wisely!

Since the Recovery Act was announced, Common Cause has led the charge for:

• A central website to serve as the primary communication and reporting tool for each state's use of the Recovery Act funds.
• An oversight committee to ensure that funds are allotted according to the merit of the project, not the influence of its overseer.
• An automated hotline, so that government workers and citizens alike can report any misuse of funds.
• Accountability practices that apply from the state and county level all the way down to municipalities and towns, ensuring transparency across the board.

Will you help us make sure these important safeguards become a reality? The Recovery Act offers America an opportunity to rebuild our economy, but it won't work if we don't make sure the process is fair and transparent.

Click here to donate now. We have just 2 days left to meet our $50,000 goal.

Thanks for all you do,

Arn Pearson
and the rest of the team at Common Cause

Common Cause is a national nonpartisan organization with chapters in 38 states. Our mailing address is 1133 19th Street NW, 9th Floor, Washington, DC 20036. Our phone number is (202) 833-1200.


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Vote for 2008 Porker of the Year

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From: Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW)

Help Decide the

2008 Porker of the Year!

And the Nominees are:

Sen. Christopher Dodd

Rep. John Mica

Rep. Jim Moran

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Harry Reid

Sen. Ted Stevens


Please visit CAGW and cast your vote now! Thank you


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Please share this ad for bipartisan efforts for our nation's financial condition

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From: Peter G. Peterson Foundation

Just the Tip of the Iceberg...

The Peter G. Peterson Foundation's new ad campaign explains our current federal burden — now up to $56.4 trillion, or $483,000 per U.S. household — and calls on Congress to make bipartisan efforts to address the nation's deteriorating financial condition.

Share This Ad

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This weekend, CNN will debut the movie I.O.U.S.A., which is about our nation's current economic crisis

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From: Concord Coalition

"...they'll find it accomplishes an amazing thing. It explains the national debt, the foreign trade deficit, the decrease in personal savings, how the prime interest rate works, and the weakness of our leaders."
-Roger Ebert, Chicago-Sun Times (3.5 Stars)

This weekend, CNN will debut the movie I.O.U.S.A. Accompanying clips of the film will be a panel of experts discussing the movie in greater detail as well as its relevance to the current economic crisis. The event will be moderated by Ali Velshi and Christine Romans, hosts of "Your $$$$$." The panel guests will include Concord Coalition President Peter Peterson, former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker, former Office of Management and Budget Director Alice Rivlin, and former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley.

The program will be shown twice over the weekend: Saturday, January 10, 2009 at 2:00 PM EST and Sunday, January 11, 2009 at 3:00 PM EST.

I.O.U.S.A. was released in theaters across the country in August and tells the real story of our national debt and why we need to reverse the flow of red ink before our nation faces a fiscal disaster. Highlights of the film include scenes of The Concord Coalition's Fiscal Wake-Up Tour, which has taken its message of fiscal responsibility across the country non-stop over the past two years.


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Main obstacle to building public support for the difficult choices we face is mistrust of government

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From: Concord Coalition

Concord Coalition, Viewpoint Learning, Public Agenda Research Initiative Reveals Americans are Willing to Sacrifice but Demand Trustworthy Leadership

WASHINGTON—A new study, to be released September 22, reveals that the American people are willing to make sacrifices – in the form of spending cuts and tax increases -- to address growing federal fiscal imbalances, yet would do so only if they see greater government accountability.

It is vital for Americans to have a serious conversation about national priorities, burgeoning entitlement programs, what we expect from the Federal government, and what we are willing to pay for government services. But building public understanding of, and support for, difficult choices is easier said than done. Leaders are not sure whether or how they can reach Americans on these issues -- let alone what solutions the public would find acceptable if they did.

To help better understand Americans’ attitudes about these issues, Viewpoint Learning – in partnership with Public Agenda, The Concord Coalition, The Brookings Institution and The Heritage Foundation – has conducted a nationwide series of ChoiceDialogues™ over the last two years. In these daylong sessions, representative samples of Americans worked to come to terms with the challenges facing America’s finances and future. What they found, in dialogue after dialogue across the country, is that the main obstacle to building public support for the difficult choices we face is not public opposition to tax increases or program cuts, nor is it public lack of interest. The main obstacle is a deeply felt and pervasive mistrust of government.

Perhaps as important, the dialogues, along with a follow-up survey conducted this summer, revealed the leading edge of a significant, and widespread, shift in what Americans expect of their leaders and themselves. This shift is surfacing powerfully in the current presidential campaign, and it has real implications for what it will take to reduce mistrust of government and build public support for major reform. Americans emphasized that trust is a two-way street:

• They want leaders to provide an honest, straightforward assessment of the challenges facing the nation. They are increasingly suspicious of easy answers, and are more aware of when they are being pandered to; such tactics tend to reinforce mistrust.
• They do not expect leaders to provide all the answers – but they do expect leaders to give people the chance to wrestle with the tough choices and take citizens’ viewpoints seriously.
• They want to be challenged and play a role in problem solving; being asked to consider hard choices is not a poison pill.
  

You are invited to a presentation and discussion of these findings next Monday, September 22 at 8:30 a.m. in the Conference Room of The National Press Club:

WHAT: Press Conference Releasing Findings of Facing Up to the Nation’s Finances Project

WHEN: Monday, September 22, 2008
8:30 a.m. (Continental Breakfast will be provided at 8 a.m.)

WHERE: The National Press Club, The Conference Room
529 14^th Street NW, Thirteenth Floor
Washington DC

Featured speakers:

• Robert Bixby, Executive Director, The Concord Coalition
• Paul Cullinan, Research Director, Budgeting for National Priorities Project, The Brookings Institution
• Alison Acosta Fraser, Director, Roe Institute for Economic Studies, The Heritage Foundation
• Heidi Gantwerk, Vice President, Viewpoint Learning
• Steven Rosell, President & Co-Founder, Viewpoint Learning
• Andrew Yarrow, Washington Director & Vice President, Public Agenda

RSVP/Contact: Jonathan DeWald of The Concord Coalition 703-894-6222 concordcoalition@concordcoalition.org

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A lack of foresight and oversight has gotten the federal government into a financial mess

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From: Taxpayers for Common Sense

Uncle Sam, What’s In Your Wallet?

Congress has been on a pretty stunning spending spree recently – even by Washington, DC standards. Earlier this year Uncle Sam sent out billions of dollars worth of economic stimulus checks, this week they transferred $8 billion to prop up the highway trust fund (HTF), and over the weekend they guaranteed as much as $200 billion taking over mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

And it’s all on the nation’s credit card.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) just predicted that this year’s federal budget deficit will be nearly $407 billion. That’s all going on the nation’s credit card. Not quite a record in dollar terms – that was 2004 at $413 billion – but it is likely we will break it. The CBO estimate includes a caveat—they didn’t try and predict the impact of the Fannie/Freddie bailout. Plus, we’re expecting another $50 to $100 billion more may soon be ponied up for another round of economic “stimulus.”

But here’s the catch: the economy, and especially the housing market, is on the rocks right now. And the highway trust fund is running on empty, which is bad because it is meant to maintain our bridges and roads. So Congress is in a bit of a pickle. How do they get things going again, keep more bridges from falling down, prevent a housing-market-based financial meltdown, and avoid leaving our children and grandchildren with an empty piggy bank? (Actually, the piggy bank will likely hold an enormous I.O.U to China that the kids get to repay.)

While the economic impact of this spring’s stimulus checks has been dubious at best, it was pretty certain that allowing Fannie and Freddie to fail would have set off financial tremors across the world, not just here at home. But as we wrote back in July when the initial actions to backstop the two organizations were being discussed, Congress had a long track record of turning a blind eye while Fannie and Freddie stiff-armed attempts by regulators and the public to demand more transparency and oversight of their operations. Operating largely under the radar for years, they both grew to such a size that it was impossible to believe the government would not step in if they showed signs of failure.

The mortgage market, nearly half of which is tied up in Fannie’s and Freddie’s $5 trillion portfolio, will continue to have a huge impact on the economy. Markets need freedom and flexibility to work in people’s best interests, but Fannie’s and Freddie’s troubles were foreseeable and even preventable. Congress did not heed earlier warning signs, making the takeover almost inevitable. The housing market is too important to our economy and people’s lives to allow the high price of freewheeling shenanigans of a few to bankrupt the rest of us.

We must do better going forward. So why, at the same time we are heading toward record deficits, is Congress talking about adding more to the nation’s tab? Enormous budget deficits adding to a nearly $10 trillion debt aren’t good for the economy either. So, a twofer may be actually paying for any economic stimulus by cutting spending or finding more revenue. That will serve to hold down the cost and demonstrate to the world that the U.S. is finally getting serious about the nation’s budget.

A lack of foresight and oversight has gotten us into a financial mess that looks to be with us for a while. Nothing has occurred in this economy that Congress and the Administration didn’t know was possible, even likely. If we are to work out of our budgetary quagmire, Congress and the next President need to remove the blinders, roll up their sleeves, and face our fiscal challenges head-on.

[Original article includes comments.]
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