"Federal watchdog says Chemical Safety Board missing 'mission-critical' staff"
"Staffing shortages and infighting among a dwindling number of decision-makers are hampering investigations of chemical fires, explosions and other petrochemical industry accidents in Louisiana and across the country, according to a new federal inspector’s report.
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, commonly known as the CSB, has yet to fill three vacancies on its five-member governing board, and the agency has several “mission-critical” staff positions that have remained unfilled for more than year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s office of inspector general said in the report. These leadership and staffing gaps are making it difficult for the agency to investigate a growing backlog of chemical accidents, the report said.
“Two new top management challenges … may prevent the CSB from efficiently and effectively driving chemical safety change through independent investigations that protect people and the environment,” the inspector general’s office said."
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