Last July, Heather Wylie, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers biologist in Los Angeles, decided to protest a proposal by the Corps that could have weakened clean water protections for the Los Angles River. She received a 30-day suspension for “off-duty kayaking” and “circulating a news article via e-mail documenting Clean Water Act enforcement problems.” Her 51 mile trip was intended to prove to the Corps that the Los Angeles River is a navigable waterway because the Corps refused to declare the entire river navigable and therefore not subject the watershed to the protections entitled to it under the Clean Water Act.
Her supervisors found out and threatened her with the suspension, but today it was announced that the case was settled. Under the settlement, no side admits fault and Wylie will leave the Corps -- to become an environmental lawyer.
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