Posted on January 28, 2018
After months of widespread criticism of his deep-rooted ties to the chemical industry, the controversial and corrupt scientist nominated to oversee the Office of Chemical Safety at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finally stepping down. According to the Associated Press, Michael L. Dourson will no longer act as senior adviser to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, a position he has held while awaiting confirmation since October.
Ever since President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Dourson as Assistant Administrator of the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) in July, he has faced controversy and protest, and with good reason.
Over the course of his career, the 65-year-old toxicologist has made a name for himself as a for-hire scientist with close ties to the chemical industry, and has authored countless industry-backed studies supporting the safety of dangerous and toxic chemicals that are widely questioned by the scientific community.
According to his resume, Dourson worked for the EPA from 1980 until 1994, where he moved his way up from his position as staff toxicologist to manage risk assessments for the agency’s offices of water, waste and air quality as chief overseer of pesticides and toxic substances. However, Dourson left and shortly after he founded an independent for-profit research firm, Toxicology Risk Assessment (TERA) in 1995, where he began advising the same companies that he previously used to regulate. For over two decades, his firm has conducted numerous studies for corporate chemical giants including Dow Chemical Co., Monsanto, Koch Industries Inc., Chevron Corp., and many others, releasing findings validating the safety of their products.
Though his ties to the chemical industry and scientifically unsound research weren’t enough cause for concern, it was further discovered that during his time as a toxicologist, Dourson received payments from large chemical corporations in exchange for criticizing scientific studies that had raised concern about the safety of their products, according to a review of his work and financial records published in September 2017 by the Associated Press.
In light of these findings, environmental and public health advocates protested and both Senate Democrats and Republicans alike scrambled to oppose his nomination. “Dr. Dourson’s consistent endorsement of chemical safety standards that not only match industry’s views, but are also significantly less protective than E.P.A. and other regulators have recommended, raises serious doubts about his ability to lead those efforts,” Senator Tom Carper, Democrat of Delaware, who helped head the panel to assess Dr. Dourson’s qualifications, told the New York Times. “This is the first time anyone with such clear and extensive ties to the chemical industry has been picked to regulate that industry.”
However, it was not until a 400-page series of emails obtained by Greenpeace and released by the New York Times showed the ongoing and extensive nature of this correspondence, that Dourson was finally forced to withdraw his own nomination. The emails showed that Dourson and his team at the University of Cincinnati continued to both send and receive emails from the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and other large chemical industry players, even after he was nominated to oversee the regulation of toxic chemicals at the EPA.
“It’s very good news that Michael Dourson won’t be deciding which chemicals are and aren’t safe for our kids,” Richard Denison, lead senior scientist for the Environmental Defense Fund, said in an interview. “He was a particularly toxic choice for the job, with his long record of mercenary science. His presence would also have undermined implementation of the historic chemical safety reforms passed by Congress last year.”
While this victory is undoubtedly significant, the fight is nowhere near over and the chemical industry still holds an alarming presence within the EPA. The fact that Dourson was ever nominated in the first place shows just how misplaced the priorities of the current administration are.
“Someone with Dourson’s track record of pushing for dramatically weaker safety standards for chemicals linked to cancer, brain damage and reproductive harm should never have been let in the door at EPA,” said Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group in an interview with the New York Times.
However, this is undoubtedly a victory, and proof that even in this administration, public health and environmental activists can still make a difference. And though the EPA is still stacked with chemical cronies, there’s now one less. Yet Dourson’s departure means that Trump will have to pick a replacement. If his previous choices are any indication, we can’t afford to not be concerned.
The good news is, this comes just before Administrator Scott Pruitt is set to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) on January 30, 2018. The ADAO will be there to make sure we get all the answers we deserve.
Enough.
Linda