THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 21, 1996 TAG: 9603210428
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
One in three employees who responded to a recent survey at the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality said they were directed to ignore an environmental rule or regulation in the past two years.
Based on a questionnaire sent to all 670 DEQ employees, of which 145 replied, the survey also found that 70 percent of respondents believe business and industry wield too much influence over state environmental policy.
Conducted by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, a national association of state and federal workers, the survey echoes another critical study by state auditors last year that noted low morale, employee intimidation and complaints of political cronyism within DEQ.
``PEER works all across the country, from Alaska to Florida, but we have never seen such a powerful self-indictment of an environmental agency by its own employees,'' Jeff DeBonis, PEER's executive director, said in a statement Wednesday.
The department labeled the survey, and PEER, as irrelevant.
``This is another (public relations) stunt by PEER, a thoroughly discredited group with a history of making wild, unsubstantiated allegations,'' Michael McKenna, DEQ's director of policy and planning, said in a statement.
Last year, PEER asked a federal prosecutor in western Virginia to investigate complaints that several state water-pollution permits were illegally approved to sewage and industry plants. The complaints were later dismissed.
DEQ leaders declined to answer questions regarding specific findings in the survey, including the charge that managers have been directed to ignore environmental regulations.
``DEQ will not dignify it with further comment,'' McKenna said.
Ken Stroupe, spokesman for Gov. George F. Allen, said he was impressed that so many employees ``recognized this for the garbage it is and tossed it in the trash.''
The survey nonetheless shows the bitter disparity between traditional environmental groups and the current leadership of Virginia's environmental protection agencies, which have been battling since Allen ushered in a downsizing, deregulation campaign in state government.
The PEER survey asked employees to gauge the impact of downsizing and whether they felt ``DEQ will be less able to protect human health and the environment.'' Among the respondents, 79 percent agreed that DEQ is less capable, while just 6 percent disagreed.
David Sligh, Virginia director of PEER, who quit DEQ last year, said the survey was mailed to all employees in February. About 21 percent of the surveys were returned, he said, many with notes urging that their identities be kept anonymous for fear of retribution.
Virginia's secretary of natural resources, Becky Norton Dunlop, faced sharp criticism from state lawmakers this year because of internal policies and hiring practices inside DEQ. A Williamsburg delegate even submitted a bill to remove her from office; the measure was later tabled.
The survey asked employees if Dunlop should be replaced. Seventy-two percent said she should be removed, with 8 percent supporting her retention. by CNB