The Klamath River runs through Oregon and northern California. {credit}Pam Rentz on Flickr under Creative Commons{/credit}
In the first of its reports on alleged scientific misconduct to be released since the 2011 introduction of a new scientific integrity policy, the US Department of the Interior (DOI) has rejected allegations brought by Paul Houser, a scientific-integrity official and hydrologist who claimed in 2012 that he was fired for trying to do his job calling out bad science.
After his dismissal, Houser, now at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, reached a settlement with the DOI in December 2012. But the DOI and Houser continue to disagree on whether the work he questioned during his time there contained examples of scientific misconduct.
Now the report, which was released by the DOI as part of a new scientific-integrity website launched on 15 March, agrees with Houser that a press release and scientific summary document prepared by DOI staff in 2011 downplayed the level of uncertainty around scientific studies suggesting that the proposed removal of four dams on the Klamath River in Northern California would be good for the environment. But it finds that the misrepresentations were not deliberate and did not rise to the level of scientific misconduct. “The issues he raises do not appear to constitute intentional distortion or omission of scientific facts, falsification of science, or compromise of scientific integrity,” the report states. Still, its executive summary warns the department that “false precision” is not desirable, and notes that panel members struggled with a lack of clarity over how the newly introduced integrity policy should be interpreted.