http://www.abqjournal.com/opinion/editorials/25213211opinion04-25-10.htm This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal.

It was written by editorial page staff and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Protecting Bureaucrats Instead of Environment

It has all the makings of a Hollywood thriller: A group entrusted with protecting the environment is more interested in protecting secrets. On the positive side, this one could be filmed right here in New Mexico. On the negative, that's because it's based on real-life New Mexico experience. The bad actors in this seeming John Grisham redux work for the Environmental Protection Agency's Dallas office. An internal investigation by the EPA's Office of Inspector General found staff members went above and beyond to ensure nothing that reflected poorly on Sandia Labs' radioactive and hazardous waste landfill would be accessible to the public. While a December 2007 EPA letter said the state's decision to approve a groundwater monitoring network was "technically sound" and there was no evidence to indicate the landfill posed any danger, the IG investigation found EPA staffers actually had concerns similar to an Albuquerque group that has questioned the landfill's affect on groundwater. Citizen Action has long contended the radioactive and other chemical wastes stored in unlined pits and trenches on the southern part of Kirtland Air Force Base could leak and should be relocated. The IG report also discovered the EPA did much of its 2007-08 review of the monitoring network orally so no documents would be created. Further, the EPA and the state Environment Department opted to limit cross-agency discussions so Citizen Action couldn't access them via Freedom of Information Act requests. Reacting to criticism of the EPA, state environment officials huffed that they had done their work in a transparent fashion. Hardly. In fact, the state went so far as to sue Citizen Action in an attempt to keep a consultant's report on the landfill under wraps. And that was after the Attorney General said it was a public record and the Environment Department still wouldn't cough it up.

Could it get more "Erin Brockovich" than this? While both agencies are busy disputing the IG's report, officials would do well to remember they work for the public, stop wasting taxpayer resources hiding information and live up to their agency names. That means working to protect the environment, not bureaucrats.