(3 of 5)
In September, Democratic Representative Elliott Levitas, chairman of the House Public Works Oversight Subcommittee, which had been investigating EPA'S handling of Superfund for several months, asked for documents on cleanup efforts at 160 sites nationwide. At about the same time, Democratic Representative John D. Dingell, chairman of the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, started probing charges by some EPA officials that the agency was holding up a planned $6.1 million grant to clean up Stringfellow until after the November election. According to the charges, which Gorsuch denies, the EPA wanted to prevent California Democratic Governor Jerry Brown from taking credit for the cleanup in his Senate campaign. But Gorsuch refused to yield the documents the subcommittees wanted on Superfund settlement strategies and negotiating positions, calling them too sensitive. The White House backed her up, maintaining that they are protected by Executive privilege. Gorsuch was held in contempt, and two weeks ago a federal judge denied a Justice Department attempt to block the House action.
Lavelle and EPA Counsel Perry collided again last fall, when Lavelle helped engineer a voluntary settlement with 24 major companies to clean up the Seymour Recycling Corp. dump near Seymour, Ind. Perry argued they would do better to take the companies to court because the EPA has no teeth to enforce a voluntary agreement if they renege. A furious Lavelle attacked Perry in an unsigned memo, which some EPA sources say was destined for the White House, for "systematically alienating the primary constituents of this Administration, the business community." Lavelle said the remarks were simply staff notes intended for Gorsuch.
What may have contributed to her dismissal more than such internecine battles was a clash on Dec. 16 with the House Subcommittee on Science and Technology. Lavelle denied to the subcommittee that she had asked the EPA inspector general to investigate Hugh Kaufman, a whistle blower who had frequently criticized the Superfund enforcement, most notably on 60 Minutes. Kaufman, an EPA engineer, charged that after his TV appearance EPA sleuths trailed him, electronically monitored his office phone, and secretly photographed him going into a motel with a young brunette, who happened to be his wife. Subcommittee Chairman James H. Scheuer later produced two signed statements from officials in the inspector general's office implicating Lavelle in Kaufman's harassment. Last month Scheuer said he was ready to ask the Justice Department to prosecute her for perjury. According to an aide to Scheuer, a high-level EPA official, purporting to represent the White House, approached subcommittee staff members and asked if the Congressman would drop the case if Lavelle resigned. Scheuer sent word that he would. A few days before Lavelle's dismissal, the official notified the aide that the matter would be "resolved shortly." Said Scheuer: "They dumped her because she got caught in perjury."