Leadership at Chemical Safety Board questioned amid investigation backlog
New, damning evidence of management failures within the U.S. Chemical Safety Board was presented Thursday at a congressional hearing.
The board is responsible for investigating accidents such as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But its effectiveness has languished since 2006, an analysis by the Center for Public Integrity found last year. While its accident investigations are supposed to be completed within a timely manner, there remains a significant backlog, drawing the ire of victims’ families as well as members of Congress.
The board's investigation into the 2010 Tesoro Corp. refinery fire in Anacortes, Wash., that killed seven workers was completed just last month, more than four years after the accident. Its Deepwater Horizon report, released June 5, also was four years in the making.
Testimony Thursday before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform blamed the backlog on poor leadership by Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso, appointed by President Obama in 2010.
Former board member Beth Rosenberg resigned from her position last month, a little over a year into her five-year term. She cited the agency's "level of dysfunction," including what she described a widespread fear of disagreeing with management, creating a high amount of attrition.
“Those whose opinions differed from those of senior leadership or the chair are marginalized and vilified,” Rosenberg testified. “Disagreement is seen as disloyalty.”
At least nine experienced employees have departed the agency since 2011, which has only made the backlog of cases more burdensome.
Rosenberg also said there is no clear plan to tackle the number of cases that remains. "The action plan consists of a list of unfinished investigations, but they are not prioritized, nor is there any discussion of the priorities," she said.
In his testimony and under questioning, Moure-Eraso attributed the slew of unfinished reports to a lack of resources.
Related: As critics press for action, Chemical Safety Board investigations languish
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Copyright 2014 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
