Critics question EPA decision to shut down Web sites

Environmentalists and public interest groups were outraged Friday over the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to take down its Web site and e-mail service earlier in the week after being pressured to do so by House Commerce Committee Chairman Tom Bliley, R-Va.

"It's curious that last week hackers temporarily shut down Yahoo and eBay, and Mr. Bliley effectively did that to the EPA," said Paul Orum, coordinator of the Working Group on Community Right-To-Know, which advocates for public disclosure from the EPA. "Maybe the hackers should quit giving ideas to Mr. Bliley."

EPA says it was forced to shutter both its public and private Web sites and external e-mail because the committee had publicized an oversight hearing on the agency's computer security weaknesses. The committee cancelled its Thursday hearing, and instead held a news conference to release General Accounting Office findings outlining the agency's security problems. The agency said it is working to restore access to the public sight as soon as possible.

"It's outrageous the public can't get information they need," said Rick Blum, policy analyst for OMB Watch.

Blum said his group has received complaints from people who have tried to access the EPA site, but couldn't get in, including a man in Alaska trying to get information on landfills for a public hearing. He added that both the agency and the House Commerce Committee are to blame.

"I find it troubling that the government would essentially hold a gun to another agency's head and threaten to out it," he said. "Clearly the EPA should have been addressing its computer security problems a long time ago, but it's important to not make this into a political tool."

While committee Democrats could not defend lax EPA computer security, they were not pleased with how the situation was handled.

"Did this solve the problem or create publicity?" asked Deputy Minority Staff Director Dennis Fitzgibbons. "This smacks of a publicity stunt."