"All three officials have played a significant role in pressuring scientists to dismiss the risks posed by products the EPA is assessing, according to whistleblowers."
"The whistleblowers who have alleged systemic corruption in the Environmental Protection Agency’s New Chemicals Division have refrained from releasing the names of the managers and other agency officials who they say have repeatedly interfered with the chemical assessment process — until now. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, the group that represents the EPA staff scientists, has decided to release four of the complaints it sent to the EPA inspector general and The Intercept on the whistleblowers’ behalf, complete with the names of three staff members who were involved in many of the alleged instances of interference: Todd Stedeford, Iris Camacho, and Tala Henry.
All three EPA officials have played a significant role in pressuring scientists to downplay the risks posed by products the agency is assessing, according to voluminous documentation the whistleblowers have provided to The Intercept and the EPA inspector general over the past eight months. Henry serves as the deputy director for programs in the agency’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, which includes the New Chemicals Division, and Camacho is a branch chief responsible for chemical assessment in a division of the same office. Stedeford, an attorney and toxicologist, served as a senior science adviser in the agency’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics until May, when he left to work at Bergeson & Campbell, a law firm that helps chemical companies navigate the regulatory process."
