Public

New evidence indicates the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry fails to protect communities from dangers such as the now-disappearing plumes of toxic groundwater carrying cancer-causing chemicals far beyond the Kelly Air Force Base near San Antonio, TX.

The Government Printing Office web site apparently took down the publication after discovery of the mistake -- but the entire report is still available on the site of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy.

NYT: "The goal is to open up a system in which the agency failed to inform the public that a widely prescribed heartburn drug was especially toxic to babies; that a diabetes medicine and a painkiller increased heart attack risks; and that antidepressants increased suicidal thoughts and behavior in children and teenagers."

The Mine Safety and Health Administration still denies FOIA requests, including one filed in Oct. 2008 by mine safety attorney Tony Oppegard for some witness statements.

The Newark Star-Ledger reports a move by a top New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection official to prevent public disclosure of scientific information that should be public until political appointees without science credentials and press officers have approved it.