I believe the Federal goverment reclassified PFC's
this week as likely carcinogens

--- Jane Clark <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> From Public Employees for Environmental
> Responsibility (PEER)
> <[log in to unmask]>
> Contact: Chas Offutt (202) 265-7337
> 
> MINNESOTA PAYS SCIENTIST $325,000 TO RESIGN -
> Scotchgard Whistleblower
> Agrees to Drop Free Speech Lawsuit
> 
> Washington, DC - The Minnesota Pollution Control
> Agency is paying one of its
> own scientists $325,000 in return for her dropping
> free speech lawsuit and
> whistleblower complaint against the agency and for
> resigning from the
> agency, according to a legal settlement agreement
> released today by Public
> Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
> 
> Scientist Fardin Oliaei was the coordinator for the
> MPCA program on emerging
> contaminants. Her investigations into chemicals
> (known as perfluorochemical
> compounds or PFCs, which do not break down in the
> environment and
> bio-accumulate in living tissue) used in the
> manufacture of nationally
> distributed products, such as Scotchgard, Teflon,
> Stainmaster and Gore-Tex
> caused controversy because the chemicals were
> manufactured by 3M, the
> largest employer in the state. Dr. Oliaei found -
> 
> Through 2002, 3M dumped as much as 50,000 pounds of
> the chemical per year
> into the Mississippi River from its Cottage Grove
> wastewater treatment
> plant;
> 
> Alarmingly high levels of PFCs in Minnesota fish in
> the Mississippi River
> near that disposal site; and
> 
> Half of the fish examined from what are considered
> pristine waters of
> Voyageurs National Park were contaminated with PFCs.
> 
> "It had become clear to me that I was no longer
> going to be able to conduct
> scientific research in this agency," stated Dr.
> Oliaei, who, under the
> agreement, is free to accept other state employment.
> "I am a scientist and I
> want to go someplace where I can complete this
> important work."
> 
> Early last year when Dr. Oliaei's work first became
> public, MPCA
> Commissioner Sheryl Corrigan, a former 3M executive,
> told Dr. Oliaei, who
> had worked at MPCA since 1989, there was no room in
> the agency for
> "scientific work." Other MPCA managers also
> threatened to eliminate her
> program and reprimanded her for speaking to the
> media about her research. On
> August 18, 2005, Dr. Oliaei filed federal civil
> rights suit, including
> violation of her First Amendment free speech rights,
> against the MPCA,
> Commissioner Corrigan and other top officials.
> 
> "This settlement, which allows Dr. Oliaei to leave
> the Agency at this time
> with a measure of financial security, is in her best
> interest," stated
> Rockford Chrastil of the Minneapolis firm of
> Chrastil and Steinberg who
> negotiated the agreement with the Office of the
> Attorney General which
> represented MPCA in the case. "After several years
> of battling with the MPCA
> to receive support for her research and the
> opportunity to fully investigate
> the potential risks of PFCs to the public, it became
> clear that it would be
> very difficult for Dr. Oliaei to pursue her work as
> a research scientist
> with the MPCA."
> 
> Classified as a toxic, PFCs have caused birth
> defects and deaths in animal
> studies. While not yet categorized as a human
> carcinogen, the chemical has
> been associated with increased risks of liver and
> bladder cancers. Once
> consumed by humans its "elimination half-life" is
> slow, an estimated 8.67
> years.
> 
> In a November 9, 2005 letter to PEER, the Minnesota
> Department of Health
> indicated that it would not issue an advisory about
> fish caught near the 3M
> site because the sample were from fish livers, not
> the fillets or flesh that
> people eat. The Department of Health stated that "It
> is our understanding
> that the MPCA plans to collect Mississippi River
> fish and analyze fillets
> from these fish for PFC" but it is not clear whether
> this work will be done
> in the absence of Dr. Oliaei.
> 
> "It is a sad commentary on the state of affairs in
> Minnesota when the state
> government will shell out big money just to keep its
> scientists from doing
> research," commented PEER General Counsel Richard
> Condit, whose organization
> is also working with Dr. Oliaei to find other venues
> to continue her PFC
> investigations. "The investigation into the extent
> of the contamination and
> its public health implications for Minnesotans and
> others downstream will
> continue, with or without the state's cooperation."
> 
> ###
> 
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