The Jersey City Independent"

In early August, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) filed an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request to find out more information about the process the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has been guided by in choosing representatives for its new Science Advisory Board.

The DEP denied PEER’s request, claiming that almost all the requested documents are exempt from OPRA because the pending appointments are being treated like candidates for employment, and are therefore confidential. So PEER filed a lawsuit today in Superior Court in Mercer County alleging that “the DEP’s refusal to make available for inspection and copy the requested documents and records constitutes a violation of OPRA.” The suit asks a judge to release the records, and also asks for an court order that would force the DEP to implement standard guidelines for responding to OPRA requests.

“DEP cannot make public records secret on the basis of an analogy,” New Jersey PEER director Bill Wolfe, who filed the OPRA request, said in a statement. “Industry has a huge stake in getting friendly scientists on the board that will make the final recommendation on public health regulation.”

PEER contends that the board will be stacked with industry-friendly faces, not with environmental advocates, which was the impetus behind the original OPRA request. As we’ve reported on chromium issues here in Jersey City, we’ve seen the extent to which the scientific community has taken a backseat to industry concerns at the DEP over the past two decades or so. As we have also noted, the department has become quite tight when it comes to releasing public records.

Thus far, the DEP has received more than 100 applications to the 12-member volunteer board. PEER says that industry trade associations have put forward scientists from major manufacturers, as well as engineers and technical specialists from industry-friendly consulting firms.

The DEP, however, says it will make the requested records available after the 12 board members are chosen. Department spokesperson Elaine Makatura told the Star-Ledger this afternoon that “they [PEER] do not let fact get in the way of their fiction when it comes to why we have created this advisory board.” She adds that DEP will reject candidates with an obvious conflict of interest, and adds that the board will have no real policy-making authority.

But the board will be advising a shrinking number of scientists in the department, which is why PEER remains concerned.

“It appears that industry will soon be providing the final edits on all scientific work done at DEP,” Wolfe said. “Without transparency in the selection process, there will always be the doubt that this board will more concerned with political science than environmental science.”