More Trouble For Ex-Safety Board Chair

The bipartisan leaders of a congressional oversight committee are accusing former Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso of perjury and making false statements. In a letter sent to the Justice Department last week, Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) requested an investigation into whether Moure-Eraso lied to the House of Representatives’ Oversight & Government Reform Committee in its probe of management problems at the safety board. “The testimony in question is related to key aspects of the committee’s investigation, and in each case, Mr. Moure-Eraso appeared to answer questions in such a way as to avoid additional scrutiny,” they wrote. Meanwhile, the government watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility says that CSB’s current leader, Richard Engler, has taken out contracts for lawyers and consultants without conferring with the only other remaining member of the board, Manuel Ehrlich Jr., or many CSB staffers. The group says this will be a burden on the already cash-strapped agency.