The Federal Scientist-Multiple Roles and Moral Issues
Alice Campbell is an environmental geologist employed by
the Toxic Waste Disposal Administration, a federal agency.
She is responsible for making recommendations on funding
research and directing geologic investigations to determine
the safety of sites for toxic waste disposal. Because these
materials remain toxic for extremely long periods of time,
geologic conditions at potential disposal sites must be known
with sufficient certainty to allow decisions to be made
regarding siting and construction of disposal facilities.
However, because of the long time periods and the nature of
the hazardous materials involved, many decisions are made in
spite of uncertainty about the performance of the sites and
the application of new, unproven technology.
Decisions to site waste facilities are extremely litigious
and controversial. These decisions are made in a politically
sensitive environment and are scrutinized by the public and
the media. Scientists who work in this area are often called
to testify in court proceedings and must be able to defend
their data collection methods, notes, methods, processes, and
decisions in an open court of law.
A Day in the Life of a Federal Scientist
10 a.m. - Funding Research One of Alice's responsibilities
is to review technical reports and recommend further agency
action based on the results of the reports. Due to the nature
of the questions regarding the safety of the disposal site,
traditional geologic methods do not always provide decision
makers with adequate information nor provide sufficient
demonstrations of compliance with regulations governing
public health and safety. A new method for determining the
stability of geologic formations has been developed by Dr.
von Wegner, a world-renowned senior geochemist at a national
laboratory. The method, Thermal Oxygenation Xenolith (TOX)
uses heat sensors suspended from helicopters to determine the
presence of active faults based on residual thermal
characteristics from fault friction.
Von Wegner is an articulate and convincing salesman for
his new method, and the national laboratory where he works
has an excellent reputation; he is able to convince the
management board of Toxic Waste Disposal Administration to
use the new method. Federal funding is provided to the
geochemist for a report on the use of TOX at the proposed
disposal site to determine whether any faults exist that
would make the site unsafe for waste disposal. Von
WegnerÀs TOX report shows that no significant faults
exist on or near the site that could impact waste
isolation.
During her review of the report, Alice discovers that TOX
is not only new, but the validity of its application to
environmental problems is contested within the geochemical
community, due to calibration problems from biological
contributions to the thermal signature of rocks. After
further investigation and discussion with her professional
colleagues, Alice learns that a professional rivalry exists
between von Wegner and other experts in this area, who are
proponents of an alternative method for locating faults.
Discussion Questions
- What are the moral issues raised by this scenario?
- Did von Wegner misrepresent his method? Did he deceive
Alice and the federal agency? Should Dr. von Wegner have
indicated the drawbacks of his new method?
- Should the agency have researched the method more
thoroughly before granting funding?
- Is the report adequate as a basis for demonstrating
compliance with regulations regarding public health and
safety? Should the information be trusted, or should it be
compared with the findings of another method? Would it make
a difference if the report showed the site to be
unsafe?
- How should Alice proceed?
- How does scientific conflict impact decision
making?
Noon - Public Perceptions of Risk At lunch, Alice reads an
article in the local newspaper about the latest in a series
of minor tremors at the site. She recalls that reports on the
potential for seismic activity at the site determined a
probability greater than 1 in 10,000 that an earthquake of
7.0 or greater on the Richter scale would occur in the next
1000 years. Therefore, the site met the established
regulatory requirements for designation as a suitable site
for waste disposal. However, the newspaper quotes a
"knowledgeable source" from an environmental group, who
asserts that the most recent tremor is evidence that the
potential for earthquakes in the vicinity of the waste
disposal site make it unsafe. This group has been a vocal
opponent to the disposal program Alice is working on. As a
geologist, Alice knows that earthquakes occur almost
everywhere, including the waste site, and that seismic
investigations have shown that the site is safe.
Discussion Questions
- Does Alice have a responsibility to act in this
situation?
- Are there moral issues in the use of science for
advocacy or political purposes?
- How safe is safe? Does the federal agency have a
responsibility to explain the potential hazards of this
site in terms the public can understand?
6 p.m. - Conflict of Interest In addition to her federal
job, Alice has begun to take graduate classes at Western
Gambling State University, but she has not chosen a research
topic or an academic adviser. Early in the semester, the
professor teaching Alice's class, Dr. Sharpo, discusses a
research proposal he has developed to use the microbe
Toxiconsumus, which may have the ability to chemically
neutralize toxic waste. Alice is excited by the topic and
considers approaching Dr. Sharpo to discuss this topic as the
subject of her dissertation research.
8 a.m. The Next Day Alice is surprised to learn that Dr.
Sharpo has submitted a proposal to the federal agency where
Alice works. He is applying for funding to assess the utility
of using the microbe on the toxic waste disposal program.
Alice's supervisor asks her to serve on a five-person team to
review the university's proposal and provide a recommendation
on whether the research should be funded. If use of the
microbe proves feasible, Alice could use this topic for her
dissertation.
Discussion Questions
- What ethical issues does this scenario raise? Should
Alice review the proposal?
- Under what conditions would conflicts of interest or
issues of independence arise in relation to
government-sponsored scientific research?