Foxes, Henhouse, Etc.
Jun 25th, 2005 at 2:27 pm by Susie
It’s just not all that unusual these days, is it?
President Bush has nominated as chief of enforcement for the Environmental Protection Agency a partner in a law firm defending W.R. Grace & Co. against criminal charges in a major environmental case. EPA employees were told late Thursday that Bush had nominated Granta Nakayama to lead the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, according to an EPA memo obtained by The Sun.
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Nakayama, 46, a specialist in environmental law, is a full partner in Kirkland & Ellis LLP. The law firm is defending Grace against multiple criminal charges alleging that the Columbia-based company and seven of its current or former executives knowingly put their workers and the public in danger through exposure to vermiculite ore contaminated with asbestos from the company’s mine in Libby, Mont.***
Eleven EPA lawyers and investigators contacted yesterday refused to comment on the record, with most saying that any public comments would be “a career-ender.”However, they said the appearance of a conflict of interest involving EPA’s top enforcement official is likely to have a chilling effect on pursuing investigations and actions involving Grace and any other companies represented by Nakayama’s firm.
My sister is an attorney for the EPA. I read this information to her, and she had not heard of Nakayama’s nomination. But she immediately recognized Kirland & Ellis. She says it’s Ken Starr’s firm.