WASHINGTON (March 13, 2008) – A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released today criticizes the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to close five of its libraries around the country in 2006. The report concluded that the closures may have hindered EPA staff work and curtailed public access to information. Meanwhile, an independent investigation by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) found that hundreds of EPA scientists maintain the closures hampered their ability to do their jobs.

"Hastily dismantling these libraries potentially puts decades worth of valuable information beyond the reach of government scientists and the public," said Francesca Grifo, director of the UCS Scientific Integrity Program.

Dr. Grifo testified this morning before the House Science and Technology Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee, which held a hearing to review the GAO and UCS findings. The subcommittee also questioned Molly O'Neill, assistant administrator at the EPA's Office of Environmental Information, about agency compliance with a congressional mandate to reopen the libraries.

The GAO report documented numerous problems with the way the EPA handled the closures. For example, the agency failed to obtain appropriate input from staff or relevant experts or develop procedures to accommodate library users before closing the facilities.

More than 550 EPA scientists from across the agency responding to a UCS survey stated that the "recent changes and closures in the EPA library system have impaired my ability to do my job." This sentiment was strongest among scientists in the middle of the country (EPA regions 5, 6 and 7), where most of the libraries were located. Nearly 90 scientists, or nearly half of respondents from those regions, said the closures undermined their work.

A number of EPA scientists provided UCS with written comments about the library closures. One scientist wrote, "The library must also be reopened. Since its closure, some journals are just no longer accessible." Another explained why libraries are necessary: "EPA program offices … use a lot of scientific information. Reduced library access is crippling." Yet another called the loss of library facilities "ludicrous."

"The EPA must rely on the latest scientific information and the findings of earlier studies to adequately protect human health and the environment," Grifo said. "To make the best scientific determinations, scientists need access to information about the health effects of toxic substances, as well as records documenting environmental change over time and how pollutants have harmed regions or communities. These materials were in EPA's libraries."