Congressman vows to investigate EPA

U.S. Rep. Mike Bilirakis and an investigator with the agency's ombudsman's office cite possible misconduct and deception in dealings over the Stauffer cleanup site.

By ROBERT FARLEY

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 9, 2000

U.S. Rep. Mike Bilirakis intends to launch a congressional investigation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and its possible interference with the agency's ombudsman's office, according to the congressman's chief of staff.

The announcement Thursday came three days after two EPA officials abruptly walked out of a hearing Bilirakis organized to discuss the latest changes to the cleanup plan for the Stauffer Superfund site on the Pinellas-Pasco border.

And it came just hours after Bilirakis received a letter from EPA Regional Administrator John J. Hankinson Jr. to explain the walkout and offer assurances "there was no intention to offend you or the public."

Bilirakis, through an aide, called the letter a "whitewash."

According to Bilirakis' chief of staff, Todd Tuten, Bilirakis intends to convene a joint subcommittee hearing on the issue before the Health and Environmental committee, which Bilirakis chairs, and the Finance and Hazardous Materials committee, chaired by fellow Republican Mike Oxley of Ohio.

The purpose of the hearing, Tuten said, will be to look into the EPA's role and oversight, and possible interference, with the ombudsman's office and whether the environmental agency is acting in the public's best interest.

"The failure of EPA to cooperate with the ombudsman's office is a serious problem," Tuten said.

Although an agency of the EPA, the ombudsman's role is to provide independent evaluation of EPA cases. In December, EPA Ombudsman Bob Martin decided to review the EPA's cleanup plan for Stauffer.

That plan calls for piling and capping 300,000 cubic yards of toxic soil on the 130-acre Stauffer site, which was once home to a phosphorus-processing plant.

In two previous hearings, the ombudsman's office and the public have been highly critical of that plan.

Last month, the EPA offered several amendments to the cleanup plan. In his letter to Bilirakis, Hankinson stated the amendments offer a more stringent cleanup level for arsenic and "strengthen the scientific inquiry into issues related to sinkholes and the long-term integrity of the remedy, and accelerate review of the groundwater aspect of the cleanup."

Hankinson stated that he spoke to a Bilirakis staffer directly and that it was his understanding the EPA representatives would make a brief presentation about those changes and then field some questions related to those changes, after which they would be free to leave.

"EPA remains fully committed to working with you and the community to address issues related to the site," Hankinson wrote.

Bilirakis aide Christy Stefadouros said the congressman read the letter Thursday and "he feels it is a shame that Mr. Hankinson did not attend the meeting. Anyone there would know that the response is a complete whitewash.

"Instead of platitudes, Congressman Bilirakis wants to see change in the EPA's attitude and greater responsiveness to the concerns of local residents," Stefadouros said.

On Monday night, Hugh Kaufman, the ombudsman's chief investigator, asked just three questions before the EPA's two representatives, Joanne Benante, an EPA official from the Region 4 office in Atlanta, and Michelle Staes, an EPA attorney, walked out, saying they had agreed to just 10 minutes of questions after their brief presentation.

Kaufman said the EPA's apparent attitude was "spit in Congressman Bilirakis' eyes and leave before Kaufman asks the hard questions."

All three of Kaufman's questions were about ownership of Stauffer's parent company, which changed hands in December. The new company, Aventis CropScience USA Inc., along with Atkemix Thirty-Seven Inc., are ultimately responsible to pay for the cleanup, Kaufman said, and it is important to know whether those companies can afford it.

Kaufman said he believes EPA and Stauffer officials deliberately misled him in a February hearing in which they failed to note the change in ownership.

Kaufman said he plans to investigate and lay out a potential felony case against Brian Spiller, president of Stauffer Management, and EPA officials who Kaufman said continued to list the old ownership. That amounts to defrauding the government and conspiracy to defraud the government, he said.

"I'm pursuing it," Kaufman said, "and at the appropriate time I will turn it over to the appropriate law enforcement officials."

It is unclear, he said, "whether the EPA was incompetent or whether they participated in the fraud. . . . . They're either the most incompetent people in government in the history of 35 years I have been in government, or politics is at play."

Mike Kelly, attorney for Stauffer Management Corp., called Kaufman's charge ridiculous and outrageous grandstanding.

"If anything should be investigated, it is the propriety of Mr. Kaufman," Kelly said.

"Stauffer doesn't keep up to date on all the corporate changes of that company," Kelly said. "Everything Mr. Spiller testified to was to the best of his knowledge at the time."

Said EPA spokesman Carl Terry: "I'm not aware of any fraudulent statements made by the EPA about ownership of the company."

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