Since I started this blog, I’ve heard from a number of self-described whistleblowers who say they wouldn’t have sounded off about fraud, misconduct and other sleazy activity by their employers if they had known how it would mess up their lives. They don’t think the laws meant to protect corporate and government whistleblowers actually work.

The prospect of getting justice through blowing the whistle isn’t helped by the backlog of 900 lawsuits at the U.S. Department of Justice, according to a report this week in the Washington Post. According to the Post, “many of the cases involve the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, rising health-care payouts, and privatization of government functions — all of which offer rich new opportunities to swindle taxpayers.” But the 75 lawyers who handle such cases are overloaded, and the current backlog could take a decade to clear.

(more…)

Last week, Mary Gade was forced out of her position as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s regional administrator for six Midwestern states, including Minnesota. Gade told the Chicago Tribune that her supervisors got rid of her because of her insistence that Dow Chemical clean up toxic contamination around its plant in Midland, Michigan, including polluted sediments in Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron. The EPA and the chemical company have argued over how much of the dioxin-tainted soil and sediment needs to be cleaned up. The EPA wouldn’t confirm or deny that Gade had been removed for her enforcement of the Dow contamination, but a Dow spokesman told the Associated Press that the company did not pressure the agency to dump its regional administrator.

On Thursday, the agency’s bio of Gade still doesn’t mention the fact that she’s been put on administrative leave. Nor do the region’s news releases address the controversy. Instead, the most recent announcements are about a $32,000 grant for a clean school bus project and a notice of two upcoming meetings in Kalamazoo.

The EPA’s Chicago-based Region 5 is the agency’s largest regional operation.