The EPA Closes Its Libraries, Destroys Documents
http://ucsaction.org/campaign/12_1_06_EPA_Library_ClosuresThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has begun
closing its nationwide network of scientific libraries,
effectively preventing EPA scientists and the public
from accessing vast amounts of data and information on
issues from toxicology to pollution. Several libraries
have already been dismantled, with their contents either
destroyed or shipped to repositories where they are
uncataloged and inaccessible.
The scientific information contained in the EPA
libraries is essential to the agency's ability to make
fully informed decisions that carry out its mission of
protecting human health and the environment. Members of
Congress have asked the EPA to cease and desist. Please
call EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson at (202) 564-4700
either today, December 1, or Monday, December 4, and
tell him how much scientists rely on data and
literature. Urge him to immediately halt the dismantling
of the library system until Congress approves the EPA
budget and all materials are readily available online.