Energy Dept. Plans to Split Safety Office
Source: By MATTHEW L. WALD, New York Times, May 23, 2006
The Energy Department has told lawmakers that it plans to break up its office for environment, safety and health, established 20 years ago as the extent of radioactive contamination in cold war weapons production came to light, and to reorganize its functions. The department says the reorganization will combine some related functions that are currently separated, like safety and security. Some lawmakers said the department and its contractors were making costly mistakes because of inadequate attention to safety and health. ….. Paul L. Ziemer, whom President George Bush named in 1990 as the first head of the office, said in a telephone interview that the contractors who actually performed most of the work at the department had a tendency to put production milestones and schedules ahead of safety or environmental protection and that "the temptation to put those things in a secondary place is much greater if you don't have an independent organization with some level of clout performing oversight."