Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

U.S. Geological Suvey chief Groat resigns

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Geological Survey chief resigned Thursday, but a spokeswoman said his departure has nothing to do with the ongoing investigation into e-mails that indicate his agency's employees may have falsified data on the Yucca Mountain project.

Charles Groat, who has been in charge of the agency since November 1998, will leave the federal government post on June 17 to go work for the University of Texas at Austin. Carolyn Bell, a USGS spokeswoman said the university has been courting him for some time and probably finally "sweetened the pot' enough for him to take a position there.

Bell said Groat had worked in Texas before and most people assumed he would go back there.

The U.S. Geological Survey, as part of the Interior Department, does mapping and scientific research on the country's land and water. Scientists from the agency did research work for the Energy Department's proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The Energy Department announced it March that it discovered e-mails sent between May 1998 and March 2000 that indicate a U.S. Geological Survey employee fabricated documentation of his work.

The announcement sparked investigations by the Interior and Energy Department inspector generals, the FBI and U.S. Attorneys office and an internal investigation by the Energy Department into the scientific work itself.

Groat in April testified in front of the House Government Reform subcommittee that is investigating the Yucca e-mails and allegations of document falsification at the direction of panel chairman Jon Porter, R-Nev.

Porter called for an independent commission to review the case, rather the agencies themselves.

Groat agreed to such a review, but Ted Garrish, who headed the Yucca project at the time but has since retired, said he did not see a difference between an independent commission doing the review and the department putting together its own panel.

"Very much to his credit as a scientist and public servant, Dr. Groat called for an independent commission to help uncover the extent of the damage that was done," said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. "Unfortunately DOE (the Energy Department) continues to find excuses, misinform the public and stonewall Congress in a desperate effort to jam through the project."

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said Groat "actually appeared to be concerned about the e-mails" but was not sure Groat's departure will affect the investigations.

"I would hope that in the meantime, the White House, DOE and USGS would do more than just pay lip service to Nevada's concerns," Berkley said in a statement. "Without an independent investigation, we may never get to the truth about this shameful episode and its ramifications on the Yucca Mountain Project."

At the hearing, Groat declined to discuss the e-mails in detail pending inspector general investigations. 'We have a 125-year reputation for sound, unbiased science," Groat said in written testimony submitted to the panel. "Anything that casts aspersions on that reputation disturbs us greatly. We, as do you, look forward the to completion of the ongoing investigations to fully determine the impacts and appropriate responses."

Groat plans to accept appointments as the Jackson Chairman in energy and mineral resources in the School of Geosciences and the founding director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Texas at Austin, according to the Interior Department.

Before his appointment as USGS Director, Groat was associate vice president for research and sponsored projects at the University of Texas at El Paso, following three years as director of the Center for Environmental Resource management. He was also director of the university's Environmental Science and Engineering Ph.D. Program and a Professor of Geological Sciences.

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