New DEQ Director's Ties to Industry
Raise Conflict-of-Interest Concerns

by Steve Jones

Governor Dave Freudenthal has appointed John Corra to serve as the Director of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. Mr. Corra has taken a leave of absence from FMC Corporation, a trona-mining company in Green River, where he served as the company's health, safety and environmental manager.

Mr. Corra, 56, is a Republican with 35 years of experience in the minerals and chemicals industries, including two terms as president of the Wyoming Mining Association. While his background in mining and mine safety appears to be considerable, his experience in - and commitment to - environmental protection is much less clear.

Mr. Corra has been hailed as an innovator, a good communicator and an excellent manager. But his background in environmental protection was not emphasized at the time of his appointment. Governor Freudenthal downplayed Mr. Corra's environmental experience (or lack thereof) when he announced his appointment. "It seems to me," he said, "that, as much as anything, the director's task is a management job; one that requires sufficient background that allows him to communicate with technical people, but it is not a requirement in my mind that they [sic] be an 'environmental scientist.'"

In accepting the position, Mr. Corra announced that he would be taking a four-year leave of absence from FMC, rather than simply quitting. This will allow him to retire, quit, apply for his old job or take another job with FMC if it is available when he wishes to return. In a meeting with WOC staff and board, Mr. Corra explained that the chief reason he is taking this leave of absence is his wish to continue his health-insurance coverage under the company's policy.

While the intent of Mr. Corra's leave of absence from his company may be benign, it raises a serious conflict-of-interest issue. By taking a leave of absence, Mr. Corra will maintain a financial interest in the continued survival of FMC, a company that he is expected to regulate in his job as DEQ Director. Any decision he makes that would affect the trona-mining industry poses the same conflict-of-interest problem. As a result, someone else within DEQ will have to make a number of important decisions affecting that industry in order to avoid the appearance of impropriety. As of this writing, Mr. Corra has not spelled out how he will limit his decisionmaking to avoid this conflict of interest.

WOC is concerned that Mr. Corra's appointment fails to comply with a gubernatorial executive order issued in 1997 which requires that no state employees have financial interests in outside companies. We will make sure that such conflicts of interest are pointed out to Mr. Corra whenever we observe them.