TRENTON -- The state Department of Environmental Protection unveiled its appointments today to a controversial, new Science Advisory Board, the members of which include six industry scientists and six university experts Gov. Jon Corzine nominated before he left office in January. DEP Commissioner Bob Martin added four names to Corzine’s initial list of 12, establishing a 16-member panel that...
Bob Martin, acting commission of the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection.
TRENTON -- The state Department of Environmental Protection unveiled its appointments today to a controversial, new Science Advisory Board, the members of which include six industry scientists and six university experts Gov. Jon Corzine nominated before he left office in January.
DEP Commissioner Bob Martin added four names to Corzine’s initial list of 12, establishing a 16-member panel that will study and issue recommendations on various scientific issues selected by the commissioner. Environmental groups, however, claim Gov. Chris Christie, as Corzine before him, intends to use the board to second-guess staff scientists and help industry roll back environmental protections and state pollution standards.
"The commissioner has great confidence in the staff he has right now. He values those scientists highly. What he is looking to do here is supplement what we have now. ... There is no effort to replace or second guess the scientists we have now," DEP spokesman Lawrence Ragonese said.
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But Bill Wolfe of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility said Martin recently rejected his staff’s recommendation for new water standards for an unregulated pollutant called perchlorates, which may cause thyroid problems in some women.
"We are very concerned that regulated industries will exert undue political influence on scientific deliberations, and (we) call on Commissioner Martin to impose safeguards to promote transparency, ethics, and restrict conflicts of interest," Wolfe said.
Martin’s panel includes six experts from DEP-regulated industries, including employees from the chemical giant DuPont and industrial consulting firms such as Omni Environmental LLC and TRC Environmental. Martin also appointed a biologist from the New Jersey Conservation Foundation and nine academics from Rider University, Rutgers University, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and Stevens Institute of Technology.
Thirteen of the panel experts hold Ph.Ds. in their respective fields.