EPA DIVERTS AGENTS FROM NORMAL DUTIES

B

bach2yoga

Guest
obviously a colored article, but interesting nonetheless.

EPA DIVERTS AGENTS FROM NORMAL DUTIES

Date: 030426
From: http://www.guardian.co.uk/

Associated Press, April 26, 2003

Washington - Environmental Protection Agency criminal agents are
being diverted from their normal investigative work to provide
security and drivers for agency chief Christie Whitman - and getting
long lists of do's and don'ts to keep her happy.

EPA agents assigned to investigate environmental crimes have at times
been ordered to perform more personal tasks, such as returning a
rental car for Whitman's husband after a trip or sitting at a table
until the administrator arrived for a restaurant reservation,
according to interviews with several EPA senior managers.

The lists of do's and don'ts instruct agents who chauffeur the EPA
administrator to ensure they rent only a Lincoln Town Car, tune the
radio to smooth jazz or classical music and set the volume low, and
keep an eye out for a Starbucks coffee shop or Barnes & Noble book
store.

The "professional conduct" lists, obtained by The Associated Press,
say the former New Jersey governor prefers to be addressed as
governor, rather than ma'am or administrator.

After the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, senior managers in EPA's Office
of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training were instructed to
help with homeland security and Whitman's protection detail by
providing agents who normally investigate environmental crimes,
according to memos written last year by office heads.

The agents are pulled from offices around the country for several
days at a time depending on where Whitman travels, and the added
duties are straining already overtaxed resources in the crime unit,
the managers told AP. They spoke only on condition of anonymity, for
fear of reprisal.

The agents normally investigate alleged violators of environmental
laws, gathering evidence for criminal prosecutions.

One manager said an agent on a security detail was directed by
Whitman to return her husband's rental car to the airport so the
Whitmans could catch a flight together.

A second manager said an agent was told by the head of Whitman's
personal security team to hold the reserved restaurant table until
Whitman arrived for dinner. The agent is paid $100,000 a year to
investigate environmental crimes, the manager said.

With agents already designated for homeland security tasks, the
regional offices sometimes are left without investigators for days at
a time when Whitman is in town.

"Up to a week all work will shut down in an area office to facilitate
the protective service detail," one manager said.

EPA officials said the added security was necessitated by the post-
Sept. 11 terrorism concerns and specific threats against Whitman,
which they declined to describe. They said the agency is trying to
minimize the impact of the added duties on the 220-agent Criminal
Investigation Division.

"We dedicate a minimum amount of resources to the protective detail,"
said Leo D'Amico, chief of the EPA's criminal enforcement office,
which includes the investigative division. "We will adjust our level
as our on-scene people see fit."

D'Amico, whose name appears as the author of one of the do's and
don'ts memos, said he knew of no instance in which an agent was asked
to return a personal rental car or to perform any other personal chore
for Whitman.

"If there is a need to accompany the administrator for protection
reasons, we'll accompany her to any and all locations," he said. "Our
agents are not there to provide any personal services, nor have they
been asked to provide any personal services."

Whitman's protection and chauffeuring is overseen by a small group of
EPA special agents permanently assigned to this job. John Martin, the
agent who supervises that group, said he wrote one of the lists to
help agents not typically trained in providing security.

"We have to plan for the entire day. We'll take her to a Starbucks or
a bookstore when there's down time. Part of our job is to know where
everything is," he said Saturday from Paris, where Whitman was on
government business.

"When we travel to different locations, we usually rely on a local
agent to do the driving since they know the area, where the hospitals
are," he said. "We travel to so many different cities it really
minimizes the impact on each office."

Martin emphasized the lists reflect observations by him and others,
and are not Whitman's requests.

"She does not ask us to do any kinds of personal favors. She doesn't
want the extra-special treatment - she carries her luggage through the
airport...Governor Whitman had no input on that."

Among the additional security measures the EPA is considering is the
construction of a special facility at agency headquarters where agents
can be sure there is no electronic eavesdropping.

The managers interviewed by AP said their superiors at EPA
headquarters have been alerted to their concerns that highly trained
personnel are being diverted from the chief mission of investigating
crimes and protecting public health and the environment.

The managers also said they have questioned some spending, including
the new headquarters facility, at a time when the investigative office
is having to cut back.

In the 12 months after the Sept. 11 attacks, the amount of criminal
penalties dropped to $62 million from $95 million, EPA figures show.

The number of years for criminal sentences and number of defendants
charged each declined by more than 10 percent, while criminal
referrals to the Justice Department fell 2 percent.

But the investigative unit initiated a record 674 cases, almost
entirely due to the new focus on counterterrorism.

EPA officials denied the added responsibilities for homeland security
have hurt enforcement efforts.

"While we're doing protection and homeland security, we are
continuing to do our core mission, which is protecting the
environment," said J.P. Suarez, EPA's enforcement chief.

As for the multiple pages of memos they received on how their agents
should act as chauffeurs and security providers, some managers
chuckled at items that had little to do with security.

For instance, one memo offered the following advice: "Drive like a
federal agent, not like you are on a Sunday stroll or like you are
coming down the back stretch at the Indy 500."

Another told agents to limit their chitchat. "Expect Governor Whitman
to ask you how you are doing. This is not an opening to tell Governor
Whitman your life story, your hobbies, your most interesting
cases...or what is wrong with the Bush administration."

* * *

Guardian Unlimited (c) Guardian Newspapers
 
J

JeffD

Guest
Sounds like those so-called guardians are talking about the Clintonistas.

I guess Christy Whitman should listen to Captain Planet and sneak around the Pine Barrens to bust anyone throwing some dirt on an isolated wetland. :crazy:

Remember former EPA Carol Browner and her lavish parties at taxpayer expense. As Sam Cook would sing:

We're having a party
Everybody's dancing
Dancing to the music
Played by the Green Gestapo
Listen to the music
Everybody's dancing
Dancing to the music
of the Green Gestapo

Hey Miss E
Miss EPA
What's that your saying?
My cat killed a mouse in a barn
Over in Oklahoma

We're having a party...


THE LINE about the cat killing a mouse was inspired by an impromtu debate Shawn Hannity got going between Carol Browner and former congressman J.C. Watts. Addressing the charge about Republicans poisioning the water, air, etc. J.C. remarked that if someone kills a mouse in Oklahoma, "the EPA is all over us."
 
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