The recent suspension of Alaska wildlife biologist Charles Monnett is unrelated both to an article that he wrote about presumably drowned Arctic polar bears and to his scientific work, a federal official said on Friday.
The director of the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Enforcement and Regulation, told agency staff in Alaska via e-mail that it instead was the result of new information on a separate subject that was recently brought to officials’ attention.
The e-mail, written by Michael Bromwich, was obtained by The Associated Press.
There has been no “‘witch hunt’ to suppress the work of our many scientists and discourage them from speaking the truth,” said Bromwich, addressing assertions made by a group that filed a complaint against the agency on behalf of Monnett.
The group, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said that Monnett was being “persecuted” and that investigators were asking him questions about his observation of the drowned polar bears.
The Anchorage-based Monnett was placed on administrative leave on July 18, pending final results of an inspector general’s investigation into “integrity issues.”
Monnett coordinated much of the agency’s research on Arctic wildlife and ecology and had duties that included managing about US$50 million worth of studies, according to the complaint filed with the agency.
A memo dated days before July 18, sent to Monnett by contracting officer Celeste H. Rueffert, said that information raised by the investigation “causes us to have concerns about your ability to act as the Contracting Officer’s Representative in an impartial and objective manner on the subject contract.”
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