Environmentalist lawyer says EPA shooed him out

A Sierra Club lawyer says he was thrown out of an Environmental Protection Agency meeting about rewriting Clean Air Act rules last week when he threatened to go public with the proceedings.

Joe Brecher, a lawyer for the Sierra Club's legal defense fund, says the meeting was filled with lawyers for industries suing the EPA to quash tough air pollution rules written by the Carter administration.

EPA is trying to reach an out-of-court settlement on the rules issues. Mr. Brecher attended earlier sessions under ground rules that the proceedings remain secret forever. He said he balked at the secrecy rule Friday because the meeting turned into a drafting session for weaker air pollution rules rather than a settlement negotiation.