EPA Is Hastily Disposing of Its Library Collection
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is frantically dispersing its library collections to preempt Congressional intervention, according to internal emails released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Contrary to promises by EPA Deputy Administrator Marcus Peacock that all of the former library materials will be made available electronically, vast troves of unique technical reports and analyses will remain indefinitely inaccessible.
Meanwhile, many materials formerly held by the Office of Prevention, Pollution and Toxic Substances (OPPTS) Library, in EPA’s Washington D.C. Headquarters, were directed to be thrown into trash bins, according to reports received by PEER. This month, EPA closed the OPPTS Library, its only specialized library for research on health effects and properties of toxic chemicals and pesticides, without notice to either the public or affected scientists.
…Source: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
- See the order to destroy (“recycleâ€) OPPTS library materials (PDF)
- Read the letter posted by an anonymous employee rebutting EPA claims (PDF)
- View the email about inaccessibility of EPA contractor documents (PDF)
- Look at the email from the manager of the OPTTS Library (PDF)
- Peruse email outlining concerns about how library restoration may be “futile†(PDF)
- Examine the appropriations sign-on letter from Senators Boxer and Lautenberg (PDF)
- Trace the unfolding developments in EPA’s drive to shutter its libraries
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006 and is filed under Access to Information, Libraries and Librarianship. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.