WASHINGTON, April 28, 2008
Politics Keeping EPA From Toxin Warnings?
Government Report Obtained By CBS News Points At White House For Impeding Scientists' Work On Keeping Americans Safe
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Play CBS Video Video EPA Behind In Toxic Research A new government report finds that the Environmental Protection Agency has faced massive delays in its research of toxic chemicals, which could leave many in the U.S. at risk. Chip Reid reports.
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Video Notebook: Scandal At The EPA? The EPA is supposed to protect the environment. But a study by the GAO found that more people who aren't scientists are making decisions there--in secret. Katie Couric says an investigation is needed.
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(AP / CBS)
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Photo Essay Toxic Trailers Possibly high levels of formaldehyde contamination in more than 35,000 FEMA trailers used by hurricane victims.
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Interactive Air Pollution Explore air pollution throughout the US and and find out which cities have the worst air quality.
Formaldehyde is found in everything from home building materials to furniture to those infamous trailers that made thousands of Katrina victims ill.
For more than a decade the EPA has tried, and failed, to regulate formaldehyde.
The same is true for hundreds of other toxic chemicals, including some that have contaminated drinking-water supplies across the nation.
A new government report by the investigative arm of Congress concludes that the process for analyzing health effects of toxic chemicals "is at serious risk of becoming obsolete" because of endless delays and secrecy, CBS News correspondent Chip Reid reports.
Behind it all, critics say, is the White House.
"We're witnessing a scandal of major proportions, in my opinion," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. "And, yes, politics has taken over the whole thing ... and the scientists are being thrown to the rear."
An EPA scientist with extensive experience in this area, who refused to go on camera due to fear of retribution, told CBS News: "these chemicals have effects ranging from learning disabilities to cancer. And EPA scientists can't protect the public because of white house interference."
The process for assessing toxic chemicals could be documented on a simple chart five years ago.Look inside the GAO's report.
Today, after the White House added layer after layer of review, it looks like a complicated maze.
Five years ago the EPA set a goal of assessing 50 toxic chemicals a year. In the past two years they completed a total of four.
Now in a letter, the White House budget office said the report is flawed because it focuses on timeliness too much.
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