May 9, 2014
x-^tD sr^v^
*	• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
mm "z Office of Inspector General
® I
At a Glance
Why We Did This Review
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA),
Office of Inspector General,
received a hotline complaint
alleging that an Office of Water
(OW) employee interfered with
a grant funded by the EPA's
Office of Research and
Development (ORD). ORD
awarded the grant in April
2011. We reviewed complaint
allegations that the OW
employee: (1) asked the
ORD to terminate the grant;
(2)	directed an EPA contractor
not to publish data on mercury
and selenium levels in fish; and
(3)	did not cooperate with the
EPA grantee's request for
mercury and selenium data.
The requested data were
measurements of mercury and
selenium in freshwater fish
from locations within states that
had fish-consumption
advisories due to mercury
contamination. We generally
referred to this data as "fish
contamination data." OW
acquired the data through an
EPA contract in 2008.
This report addresses the
following EPA theme:
• Protecting water: A
precious, limited resource.
For further information,
contact our public affairs office
at (202) 566-2391.
The full report is at:
www.epa.aov/oia/reports/2014/
20140509-14-P-0247.pdf
EPA Employees Did Not Act Consistently With
Agency Policy in Assisting an EPA Grantee
What We Found
Fish contamination
data was withheld
that could have been
useful to the
scientific community
and the public.
Our findings did not substantiate a hotline complaint
alleging that an OW employee asked the ORD to
terminate an EPA grant, or that the OW employee
directed an EPA contractor not to publish its fish-
contamination data. However, we found that the OW
employee and an immediate supervisor did not respond
in a timely manner to the EPA grantee's requests for fish-contamination data the
OW obtained from an EPA contractor in 2008. In addition, our work shows that the
OW employee expressed concern to a senior OW staff member regarding ORD
funding the grant. From September 2011 to May 22, 2012, the EPA grantee made
eight requests seeking the fish-contamination data from the OW. However, the
EPA grantee was not able to obtain the data until May 31, 2012, after the OW
posted it on a public EPA website. During this period, both the OW employee and
his immediate supervisor did not respond to the EPA grantee's requests because
the OW was still trying to figure out what to do with the data. However, the OW did
not disclose or explain the reasons for not responding. Unresponsiveness to the
EPA grantee/public requests is inconsistent with the agency's Scientific Integrity
Policy. The OW employee claimed a lack of awareness of the requirements in the
policy.
We also found that the ORD project officers, despite their awareness of the
problem, provided limited assistance to the EPA grantee in obtaining the requested
data. We believe these actions to be inconsistent with the EPA's Assistance
Administration Manual. Consequently, these EPA employees withheld for 8 months
data that could have contributed to the scientific understanding of mercury and
selenium interactions in fish. In addition, the 4-year delay in making the 2008 data
available to the general public prevented certain states from having the opportunity
to determine whether they needed to revise their advisories on fish the public could
safely eat.
Recommendations and Agency Corrective Actions
We recommend that (1) the agency's Scientific Integrity Official develop standard
operating procedures that detail how staff are to comply with the EPA's Scientific
Integrity Policy requirement to provide timely responses to requests for information
by the media, the public and the scientific community; and (2) the Assistant
Administrator for Research and Development develop standard operating
procedures to ensure that ORD staff that serve as project officers on grants are
adhering to their responsibilities under the EPA's Assistance Administration
Manual. In response to our draft report, agency action officials provided acceptable
corrective actions or plans and both the recommendations are resolved. No final
response to this report is required.

-------