EPA Inspector General to probe CSB records

Washington – After a difficult summer that included being grilled during a congressional hearing, the Chemical Safety Board will be subject to further scrutiny from the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General.

On Nov. 6, EPA OIG sent two letters to CSB Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso announcing plans to look into the agency’s records. EPA OIG said it would begin preliminary research in November on how CSB is being run, and plans to review CSB-related purchases and payments as required by the Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act.

Moure-Eraso is no stranger to correspondence from EPA OIG. At a June 19 hearing hosted by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, EPA Inspector General Arthur Elkins Jr. testified that his office needed to file a rare “seven-day letter” after CSB officials did not comply with requests for information regarding a whistleblower investigation.

During the hearing, committee members on both sides of the aisle criticized CSB for its alleged mismanagement. Moure-Eraso responded that his agency was stretched thin by several high-profile incidents, including the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the 2013 explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. facility in West, TX.