Chemical safetyHead of Chemical Safety Board resigns under WH pressure, lawmakers’ criticism

Rafael Moure-Eraso, the chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), was expected to end his five-year term in June, but after increased pressure from lawmakers and at the White House’s request, Moure-Eraso resigned last week but will remain on the board as a regular member until mid-April.

The CSB is an independent agency modeled after the National Transportation Safety Board to issue recommendations to regulatory agencies following industrial accidents, such as the 2014 fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas which killed fourteen people. Under Moure-Eraso, complaints have risen regarding poor management, his use of a personal e-mail account for agency work, “abuse of power, employee retaliation, and lack of honesty in his communications with Congress,” according to an 18 March letter from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

About two years ago, the Center for Public Integrity published an article describing the slow pace of board investigations and reports of sinking staff morale. At its January public meeting, the CSB terminated three investigations that had been open for at least five years, because there was “no realistic opportunity” to issue reports on those cases, said board member Manny Ehrlich.

Insurance Journal reports that in the 18 March letter from members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, President Barack Obama was asked to remove Moure-Eraso, Managing Director Daniel Horowitz, and General Counsel Richard Loeb, from their positions. There has been no word on Horowitz’s and Loeb’s status. Vanessa Allen Sutherland, former chief counsel for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, has been nominated to replace Moure-Eraso.

Mike Wright, director of health, safety, and environment for the United Steelworkers, said Moure-Eraso’s resignation was the right move. “I don’t really want to dwell on the past. I think what we really have to do now is work as effectively as we can to make sure the new board can really go back to the kind of organization that it was … under some of the previous board chiefs,” he said.

Bill Wright, a board member from 2006 to 2011 said while Moure-Eraso’s resignation is positive news for the CSB, Horowitz and Loeb contributed to the board’s inefficiency. “Whether it was one of them or all three of them, the agency hasn’t made any progress on reports,” Bill Wright said.

In an e-mail statement sent to CSB staff last week, Moure-Eraso wrote, “It has been a privilege to serve the agency since June 2010. My wishes are for the continued success and productivity of the Board.”