Press Release
For Immediate Release: Thursday, October 9, 2008
Contact: Carol Goldberg (202) 265-7337
CORPS SCIENTIST FACES 30-DAY SUSPENSION FOR KAYAKING L.A. RIVER
Off-Duty Challenge to Ruling River Was Not Navigable “Undermined Authority”
Washington, DC — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is threatening major disciplinary action against
one of its own specialists because she kayaked the Los Angeles River one weekend as part of a protest
against the agency’s decision to declare it non-navigable and thus beyond the protections of the Clean
Water Act, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
(PEER). Citing footage of the event on the internet, the Corps charged that her “participation undermined
[its] authority”, and proposed a 30-day suspension, a punishment one level below termination.
Heather Wylie, a 4-year scientist with the Regulatory Division of the Corps’ L.A. District, was cited for
off-duty kayaking and for circulating a news article via e-mail documenting Clean Water Act enforcement
problems. The August 7, 2008 “Notice of Proposed Suspension (30 Days)” is still pending, although
Corps officials have told PEER that they will act later this month.
Ironically, subsequent events have validated concerns over Corps malfeasance which Ms. Wylie voiced:

In mid-August, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency took jurisdiction away from the Corps
to determine whether the Los Angeles and Santa Cruz river systems were Traditional Navigable
Waterways, thus reversing steps by the Corps to diminish Clean Water Act safeguards; and

The EPA chief of enforcement wrote a memo complaining that Corps interpretations, named by
Ms. Wylie, were inappropriately obstructing enforcement of Clean Water Act standards.
“Making the Army Corps look foolish is not grounds for discipline,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff
Ruch, whose organization is representing Ms. Wylie in challenging any adverse action. “Heather Wylie
violated no law, rule or policy by kayaking the L.A. River on her own time and, as a citizen, she has the
right to protest the wrongheaded actions of her own agency.”
Since the proposed suspension has been pending for more than two months and the Corps has rebuffed
offers to resolve the matter, PEER today filed a whistleblower complaint with the U.S. Office of Special
Counsel charging the Corps with threatening Ms. Wylie for disclosing legal violations and infringing on
her First Amendment free speech guarantees. If it finds the complaint has merit, the Special Counsel can
direct the Corps to drop the proposed suspension and recommend discipline of managers who acted in a
prohibited retaliatory manner.
“The Corps is ordering its specialists to ignore the law and will not tolerate the slightest peep of protest or
expression of concern,” added Ruch, whose organization represents eco-whistleblowers. “The Corps
should encourage its people to actively protect the environment, not punish them for it.”
Recent Corps L.A. District actions cited by Ms. Wylie are now also the focus of a joint investigation by
the House Committee of Oversight and Government Reform and the House Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure.
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Read the proposed 30-day suspension
See the PEER response
View the internet photos of the L.A. River protest
http://laist.com/2008/07/27/kayaking_the_la_river_part_2_east_v.php
Look at EPA reversal of Corps decision that L.A. River was not a traditional navigable waterway
http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=1094