Shoring Up a Shaken EPA

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Charles Dempsey, 54, the inspector general at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, will fill in temporarily for Novick. Alfred M. Zuck, 48 an Assistant Secretary of Labor for Administration and Management, was named to take over for Horton on an acting basis. EPA Official Courtney Riordan, 45, the acting administrator for research and development, was named to the post permanently. The White House tapped Lee Thomas, 38, to replace the ousted Rita Lavelle as head of the agency's hazardous-waste program. The Administration also created a new congressional-liaison job designed to smooth ruffled relations between Capitol Hill and the agency, and nominated Lee Verstandig, 45, an Assistant Secretary of Transportation, to fill it. The new appointees are widely regarded as seasoned Government professionals who will help restore an air of competence to the agency.

In the weeks ahead, the White House also hopes to calm the constant personnel turmoil that has marked Burford's tenure. Since she arrived 20 months ago, six people have been nominated to fill the two associate-administrator spots directly under her. Three have resigned or were fired, and one withdrew his name from further consideration amid allegations of conflict of interest. Two of the six assistant administrators' posts remained vacant for more than a year after Reagan took office, and one remained without a permanent appointee until last week. By week's end it was disclosed that Reagan is considering launching a study, to be directed by University of Illinois Professor David F. Linowes, a management expert, that will look into the EPA's handling of the $1.6 billion Superfund.

While the White House worked to defuse the controversy, Congress was heading in a different direction. In an appearance before a House subcommittee, Rita Lavelle testified that regional offices of the EPA have been looking into charges that a "pattern" of organized-crime involvement in toxic-waste disposal exists. Lavelle also revealed that she had met with Presidential Counsellor Edwin Meese and White House Cabinet Secretary Craig Fuller "ten or twelve" times to discuss specific toxic-waste issues, although she said neither tried to influence any of the agency's decisions. The White House subsequently said that its counsel Fred Fielding had already begun to review all contacts between senior White House aides and the EPA.

Lavelle underwent a harsh 4½-hour grilling at the hands of the Senate Environment Committee, before which she voluntarily appeared after failing to respond to subpoenas from two House subcommittees that had been investigating the Superfund. If she had hoped to receive more sympathetic treatment from the Republican-controlled body, she miscalculated. Republican Senator Robert Stafford told Lavelle sternly that she had "created the impression that your agency may be in bed with polluters." Fellow Republican Senator John Chafee complained that she had been "extremely insensitive" about the appearance of impropriety in her frequent lunches and dinners with chemical-industry officials. Lavelle argued that she was a "saleswoman," trying to persuade corporate executives to go to the bargaining table instead of to court, an approach that she submits was designed to be more efficient than litigation.