Detailed Comments on Major Project

Detailed Comments on Little Lake Butte des Morts

Comments PDF File

About Dr. deFur

Dr. deFur's CV

Technical Assistance
Grant (TAG)

Clean Water Action Council has hired Dr. Peter deFur as a science advisor during this stage of the Fox River clean up, with funding provided by the U.S. EPA under the Superfund Technical Assistant Grant program.  He is providing detailed technical analysis of the government background documents and plans for amending the Fox River Record of Decision. 

All of Dr. deFur’s contributions will be posted on here on FoxRiverWatch. 

The federal law provides the grants to allow citizens to hire technical advisors to assist in analyzing technical information presented by the government for cleaning up the river. The money is also provided for distributing this information to the public. We’re required to do detailed federal accounting, many hours of paperwork, and contracts.  We are also required to provide a 20% match, generally in the form of our volunteer time. 

The idea is to help "level the playing field" and provide an independent source of expert opinion for citizens who face confusing and highly technical arguments paid for by Fox River polluters, or presented by biased government officials.  The polluters have hired world-class scientists to argue their position. They’ve also hired public relations consultants and have enormous budgets for TV advertising, mass mailings, programs and newspaper ads. At the same time, they’ve had several lobbyists and law firms working regularly at the local, state and federal level for decades. Concerned citizens are at a distinct disadvantage. 

Dr. Peter L. deFur provides consulting services to federal, state and local agencies and private groups.  Dr. deFur is chair of the Board of the Science and Environmental Health Network (SEHN), President of the Association for Science in the Public Interest, and recently completed a term on the National Research Council Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology (BEST).  Dr. deFur is an Affiliate Associate Professor in the Center for Environmental Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University where he conducts research on environmental health and ecological risk assessment. 

Dr. deFur received B.S. and M.A. degrees in Biology from the College of William and Mary, in Virginia, and a Ph.D. in Biology (1980) from the University of Calgary, Alberta.  He was a postdoctoral fellow in neurophysiology in the Department of Medicine at the University of Calgary.  Dr. deFur held faculty positions at George Mason University and Southeastern Louisiana University before joining the staff of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) in Washington, DC.  At EDF, deFur was involved in policy issues that include habitat preservation and quality, wetlands regulations, water quality analysis and risk assessment. 

In the last two years, deFur has participated in workshops on the Precautionary Principle and published book chapters and journal articles on the Principle.  He is presently involved in several projects for SEHN on the Precautionary Principle. 

Dr. deFur has extensive experience in risk assessment and ecological risk assessment regulations, guidance and policy. He served on the NAS/NRC Risk Characterization Committee that released its report, Understanding Risk in June 1996.  Dr. deFur has served on numerous scientific reviews of EPA ecological and human health risk assessments, including the assessment for the WTI incinerator in Ohio and EPA’s Ecological Risk Assessment Guidelines.  deFur served on EPA’s Endocrine Disruptor Screening and Testing Advisory Committee (EDSTAC), and presently serves on the task force implementing EDSTAC recommendations. 

Dr. deFur was appointed to BEST of the National Academy of Sciences -National Research Council in 1996.  He is on the Board of Directors of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, and peer reviewer for several professional journals.  He has published numerous peer reviewed articles, invited perspectives and review articles for the public on subjects ranging from habitat quality to wetlands, toxic chemical and risk assessment. 

Dr. deFur has experience in the area of endocrine disrupting chemicals, specifically dioxin and related compounds and comparative endocrinology.  During the past ten years, deFur has been extensively involved in scientific, regulatory and policy concerning the generation, release and discharge of dioxin related compounds.  He has published a number of papers on regulation and policy aspects of these compounds, considered in many ways prototype endocrine disruptors. Dr. deFur has been extensively involved in the EPA reassessment of dioxin since 1991. 

To learn more about Dr. deFur's consulting firm please visit his website: