Enschnared

Kate Shepard at Mom Jones tries to advance the David Schnare broke all sorts of ethics rules when he represented ATI against UVa story, but alas, not much new since we all enjoyed Eli's last bout of Schnarenfreude.  Greg Laden is a bit more straightforward with Kate's story, but blogger ethics panels are not as strict as editors.

Schnare worked not only for ATI, but for a period of time, he also workedfor the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In order for this to have been ethical and legal, Schnare would have had to seek and obtain permission from the EPA to carry on outside activities related to EPA work. Schnare claimed to have sought permission but the University of Virginia has argued that Schnare did not inform the EPA of this outside work until about nine months after first engaging in it. Schnare claims that the letter requesting permission was prepared on or near November 16th, 2010, but there is no record at the EPA that any such letter existed. The letter, which exists now, seems to have been prepared much later in time.

All of this raised significant concerns over the trustworthiness of of those representing ATI.

And yes, the Pope is also German.  News at 11.  However, Eli is an indirect bunny with a mischievous bent, or, as some would say, a bent bunny with an indirect way of looking at things and there is something ATInteresting on the horizon.  Spurred on by Steve Milloy, ATI has filed suit against the EPA for testing the effect of small aerosols (PM 2.5, refers to the size) on human subjects.

Based on epidemiological studies EPA knows that PM 2.5 (particulate matter of ~ 2.5 microns in size) causes a significant amount of death and illness in the general population but the biological mechanism is not clear.  Therefore, the agency has set up at least one study to investigate in human subjects.  This, as they say, is a big deal because the emissions come primarily from diesel engines and restricting them would require better and more expensive filters. Milloy, of course, is a shill for industry, and cutting off the human subject studies would make EPA rule making harder and subject to more of a challenge in court (It's an EPA rule bunnies, you think it will not end up in court?).

Since Schnare worked for the EPA on enforcing clean air standards, this also looks ethically interesting if anyone jumps on it.  Much more direct than the UVA case, because our David is suing the agency he worked for on things related to his work.

Take it from Eli, in the original filing David Schnare does the full shark jump with a double Godwin

I was named after David Steiner, a man who died of starvation in Buchenwald concentration camp on May 3, 1945. Tattooed on his body was the number 59059.  He was witness to horrors that, today, we have a hard time even contemplating, something that I thought would never exist on this planet again – the abhorrent practice of giving human subjects poisons in order to determine what subsequently happens to them.  I have always been deeply affected by the circumstances of my great-uncle’s death. It is a heavy burden to carry the name of such a victim. . . .

This case involves the intentional exposure of human subjects to “fine particulate” matter, also known as PM2.5. EPA obtained their PM2.5 from a diesel truck. It is difficult to overstate the atrocity of this research. EPA parked a truck’s exhaust pipe directly beneath an intake pipe on the side of a building. The exhaust was sucked into the pipe, mixed with some additional air and then piped directly into the lungs of the human subjects. EPA actually has pictures of this gas chamber, a clear plastic pipe stuck into the mouth of a subject, his lips sealing it to his face, diesel fumes inhaled straight into his lungs.

Eli, of course, is a bit cynical, so he went and found the IRB description of how the exposure was to be done, and, of course, it is very different.  If nothing else, puffing on the tailpipe gets you a whole lot of other pollution ranging from SOx to NOx to CO2, and so forth.  Not good for your health, but don't ride your bike behind the bus.  What actually happened was

CAP Exposures-Concentrated particles will be generated by drawing ambient air from above the roof of the Human Studies Facility and passing the air through a 2 stage aerosol concentrator which produces up to a 20-fold increase in particle number and mass. Particles larger than about 2.5 microns will be excluded by a size-selective inlet from entering the concentrator at the rooftop intake. During the particle concentrating process, ambient air pollution gases will be diluted by a factor of four. Air temperature and humidity will be monitored and maintained to ensure proper operation of the concentrator. An air conditioner in the chamber can be utilized to both heat or cool chamber air for subject comfort. The flow of air into the chamber will be 65 liters per minute, with approximately 15 liters per minute diverted for analytical instrumentation and filter devices attached upstream from the chamber. The remaining approximately 50 L/min will be provided to the subject through a face mask. Since the air will be pulled into the chamber by a suction blower connected downstream of the chamber, the chamber will be slightly below atmospheric pressure.

The concentration of particles delivered to the chamber will vary depending on the levels of naturally occurring particles in the Chapel Hill air. Although 24 hr averages seldom exceed 15-20 ug/m3, peak values in the summer can be as high as 50-60 ug/m3 with lower values during the rest of the year. A face mask is used to reduce the daily and seasonal variability of PM concentration. Our past experience provides a basis to expect the particle mass delivered to the mask will be up to 600 ug/m3. The particle burden, on a mass basis presented to the volunteer will not exceed an exposure an individual receives over a 24 hour period while visiting a typical urban center in America on a smoggy day. The particle mass of the outdoor air entering and exiting the aerosol concentrator will be monitored continuously. Filter samples will be obtained from the devices located upstream from the chamber and analyzed for both mass and chemical composition of particles. If it is confirmed that particulate mass levels exceed 600 ug/m3 for greater than 6 minutes, exposure will be terminated.

Now Eli could really fisk the whole filing, a questionable piece of special pleading, but that would be unfair.  In the IRB and the other filings by the government there is much about informed consent, monitoring of the paid volunteers,  and what you would expect for such a study, but doubt it not, the denialsphere is all over this.  Still, there was a problem

the party seeking such an injunction must make a “clear showing” that temporary equitable relief is necessary. Mazurek, 520 U.S. at 972. The movant therefore carries a heavy burden not only of demonstrating that “he is likely to prevail on the merits” but also that “he will suffer irreparable injury” without injunctive relief.

As, the government points out in its reply filed Oct 4,

Perhaps in recognition of this fatal flaw in Plaintiff’s motion for emergency relief, Dr.
Schnare filed a Supplemental Declaration (ECF No. 6) asserting that his knowledge of the studies authorized by EPA has caused him emotional distress.

Eli has never seen such a river of tears south of Climate Audit

10. Having learned of the unethical and immoral activities conducted at the Human Studies Facility, I can no longer visit the UNC-CH campus because it causes me emotional distress simply contemplating the activities going on so close to my former home and school. I suffer from more than merely the psychological consequence of EPA’s activities. Their activities deny me the opportunity to enjoy alumni activities on campus. The horror of illegal EPA human experimentation denies me the ability to reminisce while walking the campus, to revisit the chapel where I was married, to see the neighborhood where I raised my son. Because of this I feel marginalized and excluded from normal alumni activities. Because of ongoing EPA’s activities on the UNC-CH campus, I feel that going to the campus is like visiting a working death camp. The aesthetics of this once beautiful campus, the Old Well, the tree-line walks, these have been destroyed. They now look to me like no more than a Potemkin village behind which is hidden a gas chamber. EPA has destroyed the aesthetic of this campus for me and until UNC and EPA begin to comply with the laws of human experimentation, I cannot in good conscience or with spiritual and emotional freedom visit my former home. 

11. During my employment with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) I worked in the Ariel Rios building at 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., in Washington D.C. This building is an architecturally beautiful building. My wife and I have taken many pictures of the building, its graceful front and its spiral staircases. EPA’s Office of Compliance has used one of my photographs as a logo for various informal and internal publications. 

12. In the past I have taken people on tours within the building to see the stunning collection of WPA artworks, murals, which decorate the walls of each floor. I have routinely included showing the building to family and friends who visit from out of town. 

13. My work requires me to travel to Washington D.C. routinely and specifically in the Pennsylvania Avenue and 12th street area which is most closely served by the Federal Triangle metro stop. In that area I meet with attorneys and scientists whose offices are nearby. In addition, I have a standing invitation to participate in EPA’s seminars offered by the Office of Policy’s economic staff, and have routinely participated in those sessions – sessions held in and near the Ariel Rios building. 

14. Since I learned of the immoral and illegal human experimentation conducted by EPA, the building has completely lost it beauty. It has, for me, become a symbol of the power of government to trample the rights of its citizens by its failure to comply with laws it wrote for itself. When I travel to the District of Columbia, I can no longer use the Federal Triangle metro stop which sits directly below the Ariel Rios building because to do so causes me spiritual and emotional upset. I am too uncomfortable to attend the environmental economics seminars and have lost forever the opportunity to participate in those seminars or hear the interaction of those present, and continue to lose that opportunity for each succeeding seminar. EPA’s immoral and illegal human experimentation has caused me to change my conduct in adverse ways by forcing me to limit my use of opportunities that previously had been open to me.

A classic.  As Nick wonders in the comments "Will they let Schnare out of rehab,or just videolink,for this case? " It will be interesting to watch the rulings from the bench on this.