New Bush pick for environmental enforcement is a lawyer for chemical polluters

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New Bush pick for environmental " enforcement " is a lawyer for chemical

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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/230047_epa25.html

 

Saturday, June 25, 2005

 

Concerns arise over Bush's pick for EPA job

Lawyer works for firm that represents W.R. Grace, others

 

By CHARLES POPE

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT

 

WASHINGTON -- President Bush has nominated Granta Nakayama, a partner

in a law firm whose clients include W.R. Grace, BP, Dow Chemical and

DuPont, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency's far-flung

enforcement division.

 

Selecting a lawyer and an engineer with one of the nation's largest

corporate law firms, whose clients have deep and occasionally

controversial relations with the EPA, triggered concerns that Nakayama

would not be able to aggressively enforce environmental laws.

 

Foremost among those concerns is W.R. Grace, which is under federal

criminal indictment on charges related to the operation of its

vermiculite mine in Libby, Mont. Hundreds of workers and Libby

residents contracted lethal asbestos-related disease -- a situation

that gained national attention after a Seattle Post-Intelligencer

series in 1999.

 

A follow-up health screening in Libby showed that nearly 2,000

residents of the tiny Montana town have lung abnormalities that could

herald asbestos-related disease.

 

Vermiculite ore from the Libby mine was sent around the country for

processing, and asbestos-related disease followed its path. Between 15

million and 35 million homes nationwide have asbestos-tainted

vermiculite insulation from Libby in attics and walls.

 

The trial, which is expected to begin in September, could result in

prison sentences against seven current and former Grace executives.

The Justice Department alleges that Grace executives knew about

asbestos-related dangers in Libby but concealed those dangers from its

workers, government regulators and the public.

 

The EPA has since declared Libby a Superfund site. In a 2003 court

decision, Grace was ordered to pay the EPA $54 million in cleanup costs.

 

Despite the association of law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP with Grace, a

spokesman said Nakayama would have no conflict if confirmed for the

assistant administrator's position.

 

" Kirkland & Ellis LLP represents W.R. Grace & Co. in litigation

related to its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, " said Brian Pitts, a

spokesman for Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago " Mr. Granta Nakayama has had

no involvement in this matter during his tenure at Kirkland. "

 

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Independent analysts and ethics experts said Nakayama's affiliation

with a firm that represented so many corporate clients with business

before the EPA does not disqualify him from being the chief enforcer

of EPA rules and regulations.

 

But they said the Senate must examine Nakayama's past closely during

his confirmation hearings.

 

" Given the criminal indictment against W.R. Grace, Mr. Nakayama's

potential conflict of interest deserves special examination during the

confirmation process in the Senate, " said Ken Cook, president of the

Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C., research organization

that has done extensive work on asbestos-related illness.

 

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., expressed concern about the nomination.

 

" This appointment is just the latest in a series of moves that calls

into question this administration's commitment to protecting our

environment, our natural resources and the health and well-being of

all Americans, " said Murray, who has aggressively pushed legislation

to ban asbestos.

 

Critics say the White House has attempted to minimize the science

supporting such things as global warming and the danger of mercury.

 

In one of the more recent controversies, The New York Times reported

earlier this month that a White House official who once led the oil

industry's fight against limits on greenhouse gases had repeatedly

edited government climate reports in ways that played down links

between such emissions and global warming.

 

The official, Philip Cooney, was chief of staff for the White House

Council on Environmental Quality, the office that helps devise and

promote administration policies on environmental issues. Shortly after

The Times report, he resigned and took a job with ExxonMobil.

 

In Nakayama's nomination, the Senate, in addition to resolving

potential conflicts of interest, must decide how independent he will

be. Eric Schaeffer, who resigned as the EPA's chief of regulatory

enforcement in 2002 because he believed the agency wasn't aggressive

enough in enforcing environmental standards, said it's impossible to

generalize about how well Nakayama will perform as assistant

administrator.

 

" The person who comes in as AA can make a difference even in this

climate, " said Schaeffer, who is now director of the Environmental

Integrity Project, a non-partisan group advocating for more effective

enforcement and to insulate decisions from political interference.

 

" On some issues he will have some independence, " Schaeffer said. But

on others, such as those involving oil and energy companies, the task

will be more difficult. The asbestos case with Grace, he said, is one

where the EPA could have more independence.

 

Even in the best case with the best administrator, Schaeffer said,

" There's no question they get less done than they otherwise could "

because of the Bush administration's focus on how environmental

standards should be enforced.

 

As the EPA's chief enforcer, Nakayama would be responsible for

ensuring that companies, communities and individuals adhere to laws

protecting air and water and ensure that waste is properly processed

and handled.

 

In that respect, Nakayama is well qualified. In 10 years with Kirkland

& Ellis and as a practicing engineer, he represented companies whose

products or services were regulated by the EPA and by state agencies

 

Before joining the firm in 1994 he served in the Navy's nuclear

submarine service.

P-I Washington correspondent Charles Pope can be reached at

202-263-6461 or charliepope