Blog Posts and Analysis / Open, Accountable Government

Little Progress on Chemical Security

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded recently that, while some progress has been made on chemical security, hurdles and delays remain, including a lack of clear authority for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish requirements for chemical facilities. The GAO reported its findings in a report released Feb. 27 on the current status of chemical security at DHS. The GAO also found DHS resistant to involving the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a review of inherently safer technologies that might reduce risks posed by chemical plants.

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NSA Spying Program on Trial

Concerns over the warrantless domestic spying program by the National Security Agency (NSA) have not gone away. Congressional hearings continue and expand as legal actions begin.

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Reclassification Run Amok

Following sharp criticism from a number of historians and national security experts, the National Archives has issue a moratorium on a massive reclassification program that came to light recently. Since the late 1990s, government agencies have been removing declassified documents from the shelves of the National Archives and considering them for reclassification.

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First Official Congressional Forum for TRI

A briefing for House congressional staff held on Feb. 23 to inform Congress about the dangers of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposals to reduce Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) chemical reporting was the first official forum of its kind. Staff from more than 30 offices heard from a diverse panel of experts on how the changes that EPA is proposing would undermine first responder readiness, harm worker safety, interfere with state programs and hinder cancer research. The briefing was sponsored by Reps. Stephen Lunch (D-MA), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), and Hilda Solis (D-CA).

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Agencies Mislead the Public on Katrina

State and federal government officials are misleading the public about potential health hazards from toxic contamination in New Orleans, according to a Feb. 23 report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Hurricane Katrina's winds and floodwaters released heavy metals and other industrial byproducts throughout the area, according to the report. These hazardous materials then deposited in homes, yards, and schools across the region, in what is now a cracked layer of toxic muck. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ), however, state that contamination levels in the city pose no "unacceptable" health risks -- a statement disputed by the NRDC report using EPA's own data.

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Dep't of Homeland Security Plans Broad Info Grab

According to reports, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is developing a program to collect and search a wide array of personal, public and classified information, similar to a program killed by Congress in 2002. The Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight, and Semantic Enhancement (ADVISE) program would implement a massive data mining program to prevent terrorist attacks; the program, however, continues to lack the necessary oversight structure and procedures to protect privacy and safeguard civil liberties.

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One in Five Women Carries Too Much Mercury

On Feb. 8, the Environmental Quality Institute (EQI) at the University of North Carolina-Asheville released the largest ever biomonitoring study of mercury levels in the U.S. population. Based on hair samples from more than 6,600 women, researchers found that 20 percent of women of childbearing age exceed the EPA's recommended mercury limit.

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