Other senior management decisions which hampered the office, according to the officials, included returning a detailed employee to his original department and interfering with the funding of two interns. The ombudsman's office is undergoing an internal reorganization, with an extensive set of guidance posted on the agency's Web site. The guidance says the ombudsman is charged with conducting objective, impartial and fair investigations. What is still an unknown is whether any of the processes currently set in motion will change with Wednesday's confirmation of former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman as the U.S. EPA's new director. Shapiro said that after listening to Whitman in her confirmation hearings, he didn't expect any major changes.
Strong enforcement has to be a part of getting the job done.
Our County said Friday that his group would be satisfied with the ombudsman being allowed to conclude his investigation and issue a final report. And although he acknowledged that the ultimate findings may not be in their favor, he believes otherwise. EPA's 1997 risk assessment based on those results and shutting the facility down for six months. The U.S. EPA has conducted several rounds of ambient air and soil sampling near the facility, and an annually-required test burn was conducted in November. But the U.S. EPA declined to order a shutdown of the facility.