Press Release

Contact: Dave Dempsey, Michigan Environmental Council
517-487-9539
Mike Garfield, Ecology Center
734-761-3186 x 104


ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS WARN PRESIDENT
AGAINST APPOINTMENT OF ENGLER TO HEAD EPA

In Letter to Bush, Groups Say Rumored Choice of Outgoing Michigan Governor
Would Underscore "Contempt" for Environment


Twenty six Michigan environmental groups warned President George W. Bush not to appoint outgoing Governor John Engler as Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, saying that Engler is "unfit for duty" in the agency.


In a letter to the President, the groups, representing tens of thousands of Michiganders, pointed out that in his final days as governor, Engler is attempting to negotiate an unprecedented weakening of dioxin cleanup standards to benefit Dow Chemical Company, setting a dangerous national precedent.

Two recent media reports have listed Engler on a short list of candidates for EPA Administrator to replace incumbent Christine Todd Whitman, who is rumored to be considering a departure from the EPA post.

The groups told Bush that Engler "has demonstrated a consistent contempt for the environmental laws enacted in Michigan and the United States since the 1960s," and pointed out that the Bush Administration has had a difficult time establishing a credible track record on environmental policy.

They added, "We believe you would be better served by a candidate with strong credentials in conservation and environmental protection. Based on years of poor performance and a disappointing track record, we believe that Governor Engler is unfit for duty in the EPA and must not be considered for any position entrusted with the protection of our nation's environment or the health of our citizens."

In addition to his Administration's last-minute bid to raise the permissible level of dioxin in soils by nearly ten-fold to benefit, the groups point out that Engler has previously defied the EPA itself by refusing to warn women of child-bearing age about the risks of PCBs in contaminated Great Lakes sportfish, resisting federal requirements that discharges of polluted water from animal factories be brought under enforceable environmental permits, and by unsuccessfully suing the agency to block tougher clean air standards.

Groups signing the letter include the Michigan Environmental Council, Michigan Interfaith Coalition for Creation, American Lung Association, Michigan Resource Stewards, Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council, Clean Water Action, West Michigan Environmental Action Council, Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council, Ecology Center, Lone Tree Council, Hamtramck Environmental Action Team, Cadillac Area Citizens for Clean Air, Friends of the Cedar Watershed Inc., Michigan Citizens Against Toxic Substances, Michigan Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination, Northwoods Services, Michigan Drain Code Coalition, Friends of the Detroit River, Environmental and Energy Consultants, Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation and Tittabawassee River Watch.




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