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MASA'S REPLY TO DENIAL OF REQUEST FOR INVESTIGATION BY EPA INSPECTOR GENERAL
MUTUAL AID SOCIETY OF AMERICA, INC. 103 Methodist St., Cecilia, KY 42724 Ph: 270-307-4857; 270-307-4857 Fax: 270-862-4379 email: jimmiller5417@gmail.com
October 27, 2011
Mr. Arthur A. Elkins, Jr., Inspector General http://www.epa.gov/oig/organization/igbio.htm Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. (2410T) Washington, DC 2046 Phone: (202) 566-2391 (202) 566-2391 Fax: (202) 566-2549 E-mail: webcomments.oig@epa.gov
Eric Lewis Director, Special Reviews Office of Program Evaluation Office of the Inspector General Phone: 202-566-2664 202-566-2664 Email: lewis.eric@epa.gov
Mr. Douglas Zmorzenski Special Agent in Charge OIG, Office of Investigations Email: douglas.zmorzenski@epa.gov
Re: NULLIFICATION OF EPA's AIS MISSION RE INVASIVE ASIAN CARP
Dear General Elkins, Mr. Lewis and Mr. Zmorzenski:
I am receipt of the letter dated October 25, 2011, from Mr. Zmorzenski which advised me that “EPA acted within the bounds of its legal discretion by withholding deliberative documents under the Freedom of Information Act, Exemption 5.”
My complaint and request for investigation, and the evidence I adduced delt with three cardinal issues:
I do not agree with the above quoted ruling nor the ruling of the EPA General Counsel to the same effect. The exemption applies to communications. I had asked for not only copies of the communications as well as the “reasoning” which could be stated without reference to any written communication. Exemption 5 as applied to the communications, does not reach beyond the four corners of the written communications.
I have charged the cabal of policy officials who are responsible for the review process and the award of grants, with a conflict of interest, namely the intentional refusal to include depopulation of Asian Carp in the MRBNW by use of commericial fisheries in two major studies of Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) which referenced 130 AIS which threaten the Great Lakes Watershed. This refusal flies in the face of two other major studies by a group of Federal agencies, including EPA, which specifically addressed the Asian carp invasion threat and the depopulation by use of commercial fisheryies. Further the cabal totally ignored the most persuasive study conducted by a Task Force including 200 scientists, which resulted in the recommendation to employ commercial fishers in the MRBNW as the primary method of eradication of Asian carp and the mitigation of their threat to the Great Lakes Watershed.
The cumulative effect of the cabal's refusal to embrace the commercial fishery approach is a very strong signal that those officials intend to allow the Great Lakes Watershed to be invaded by the Asian carp. Thus, the refusal brings into question the leadership of EPA as to its mission relative to Asian carp. We know that the Asian carp have devestated the native fish population of the MRBNW and, if they establish a reproducing population in the Great Lakes, that they will likely devestate that fishery also.
Since the Asian carp are within 20 miles of the Great Lakes, and evidence of their presence in Lake Michigan has been documented by highly credential scientists, the cabal's refusal amounts to a nullification of President Obama's announced plan to deal effectively with the Asian carp invasion. The purported solution of separating the two watersheds hydrolocally, has met refusal by the Federal Courts and refusal by Congress. One estimate for accompishing the hydrological separation is 238 million dollars. With the current composition of Congress, such purported solution is highly speculative.
The Office of Inspector General is in the best position to review the record I have made with Mr. Joseph Williams, Associate Regional Counsel for Region 5, who the Decision Officer on MASA's appeal of the denial of the MASA application. I request you obtain copies of such records, including the EPA defense offered by Mr. Michael Russ. If that is not possible, please so advise me and I will supply you with the documents which support the MASA position that, as the only applicant to propose a commercial fishery as the means of depopulation, it should have received an award of $300,000 for working drawings of the three ship fleet of the Carp Catchers Cooperative Commercial Fishery.
Please consider this letter a renewal of and/or a supplement to my earlier complaint and request for investigation, since the letter of October 25, 2011, did not address the central issues set forth above.
Sincerely yours,
James E. Miller, BA, BS, JD President, Mutual Aid Society of America, Inc.
October 27, 2011
Mr. Arthur A. Elkins, Jr., Inspector General http://www.epa.gov/oig/organization/igbio.htm Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. (2410T) Washington, DC 2046 Phone: (202) 566-2391 (202) 566-2391 Fax: (202) 566-2549 E-mail: webcomments.oig@epa.gov
Eric Lewis Director, Special Reviews Office of Program Evaluation Office of the Inspector General Phone: 202-566-2664 202-566-2664 Email: lewis.eric@epa.gov
Mr. Douglas Zmorzenski Special Agent in Charge OIG, Office of Investigations Email: douglas.zmorzenski@epa.gov
Re: NULLIFICATION OF EPA's AIS MISSION RE INVASIVE ASIAN CARP
Dear General Elkins, Mr. Lewis and Mr. Zmorzenski:
I am receipt of the letter dated October 25, 2011, from Mr. Zmorzenski which advised me that “EPA acted within the bounds of its legal discretion by withholding deliberative documents under the Freedom of Information Act, Exemption 5.”
My complaint and request for investigation, and the evidence I adduced delt with three cardinal issues:
- The conflict of interest of some policy officials of EPA with the announced goals of EPA relative the the mitigation of the threat in invasion by Asian carp into the Great Lakes Watershed from the Mississippi River Basin National Waters (MRBNW).
- The creation of a request for proposals which when applied to the 18 applications under Category I.B.2 was incorrectly applied to the prejudice of the use of a commercial fishery to massively depopulate the Asian carp population in the MRBNW as the preferred method of mitigating the threat of Asian carp invastion into the Great Lakes Watershed.
- Refusal to make available to MASA the reasoning of the reviewers for scoring the MASA proposal the lowest of the 18 applications. Reliance on the purported exemption of intra-agency communications to prevent discovery of the reasoning of the reviewers, should have been waived. In absence of such waiver, the EPA should be estopped to deny the analysis offered by MASA as to the reasons given MASA during telephone debriefing.
I do not agree with the above quoted ruling nor the ruling of the EPA General Counsel to the same effect. The exemption applies to communications. I had asked for not only copies of the communications as well as the “reasoning” which could be stated without reference to any written communication. Exemption 5 as applied to the communications, does not reach beyond the four corners of the written communications.
I have charged the cabal of policy officials who are responsible for the review process and the award of grants, with a conflict of interest, namely the intentional refusal to include depopulation of Asian Carp in the MRBNW by use of commericial fisheries in two major studies of Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) which referenced 130 AIS which threaten the Great Lakes Watershed. This refusal flies in the face of two other major studies by a group of Federal agencies, including EPA, which specifically addressed the Asian carp invasion threat and the depopulation by use of commercial fisheryies. Further the cabal totally ignored the most persuasive study conducted by a Task Force including 200 scientists, which resulted in the recommendation to employ commercial fishers in the MRBNW as the primary method of eradication of Asian carp and the mitigation of their threat to the Great Lakes Watershed.
The cumulative effect of the cabal's refusal to embrace the commercial fishery approach is a very strong signal that those officials intend to allow the Great Lakes Watershed to be invaded by the Asian carp. Thus, the refusal brings into question the leadership of EPA as to its mission relative to Asian carp. We know that the Asian carp have devestated the native fish population of the MRBNW and, if they establish a reproducing population in the Great Lakes, that they will likely devestate that fishery also.
Since the Asian carp are within 20 miles of the Great Lakes, and evidence of their presence in Lake Michigan has been documented by highly credential scientists, the cabal's refusal amounts to a nullification of President Obama's announced plan to deal effectively with the Asian carp invasion. The purported solution of separating the two watersheds hydrolocally, has met refusal by the Federal Courts and refusal by Congress. One estimate for accompishing the hydrological separation is 238 million dollars. With the current composition of Congress, such purported solution is highly speculative.
The Office of Inspector General is in the best position to review the record I have made with Mr. Joseph Williams, Associate Regional Counsel for Region 5, who the Decision Officer on MASA's appeal of the denial of the MASA application. I request you obtain copies of such records, including the EPA defense offered by Mr. Michael Russ. If that is not possible, please so advise me and I will supply you with the documents which support the MASA position that, as the only applicant to propose a commercial fishery as the means of depopulation, it should have received an award of $300,000 for working drawings of the three ship fleet of the Carp Catchers Cooperative Commercial Fishery.
Please consider this letter a renewal of and/or a supplement to my earlier complaint and request for investigation, since the letter of October 25, 2011, did not address the central issues set forth above.
Sincerely yours,
James E. Miller, BA, BS, JD President, Mutual Aid Society of America, Inc.
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