# Corrigan *Former Minnesota Pollution Control Agency commissioner (Sheryl Corrigan), named in the record for the agency's handling of PFC-related scientific work.* Sheryl Corrigan was Commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) in [[Minnesota]]. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), an advocacy organization, identifies her as a former 3M executive.[^1] The project's at-issue record names her as the commissioner who oversaw the agency during the PFAS discovery years.[^1][^2] In that same period, according to the record, the agency's emerging-contaminants scientist, Dr. Fardin Oliaei, was disciplined for talking to the press. Oliaei then sued and was paid $325,000 to resign.[^1] The account of Corrigan's role rests on PEER's report. Contemporaneous MPR News coverage is dated February 27, 2006.[^1][^3] The record does not include an MPCA response to these accounts. It does not establish the reasons for any agency decision.[^1] ## Who PEER describes Corrigan as the MPCA Commissioner during the period of Oliaei's PFC research and as a former 3M executive.[^1] According to PEER, Corrigan told Oliaei that the agency had no room "for scientific work."[^1] That statement is PEER's account of an internal exchange. The record carries no agency version of it.[^1] Oliaei joined the MPCA in 1989 and coordinated its emerging-contaminants program.[^1] ## What PEER reports what Oliaei's research found: - 3M was discharging up to 50,000 pounds per year of PFCs into the Mississippi River.[^1] - Fish near the disposal site showed high PFC contamination.[^1] - PFCs were present in half of the fish sampled from Voyageurs National Park.[^1] The at-issue record states that Oliaei was disciplined for talking to the press and later filed suit.[^1][^2] ## When - **1989:** Oliaei joined the MPCA.[^1] - **August 18, 2005:** A federal suit was filed.[^1] - **February 2, 2006:** Oliaei's resignation took effect.[^1] - **February 27, 2006:** MPR News published coverage of a hearing on the spread of PFCs.[^3] - **February 23, 2018:** MPR News reported that Oliaei, described as a whistleblower, was not happy with the state's deal with 3M on water pollution.[^4] The record does not give the start and end dates of Corrigan's tenure as commissioner.[^1] ## How much PEER reports that the state paid Oliaei $325,000 to resign.[^1] The [[Star Tribune]] reported on August 18, 2021, that MPCA Commissioner Peter Tester had announced the final allocation of the state's PFAS settlement with 3M.[^5] The allocation was: - $700 million for drinking water; - $125 million for outside legal counsel, assessments and analysis; - $34 million for expedited projects; - $20 million for natural resource remediation; - $4.8 million for agency cost reimbursement.[^5] The same report quotes Swanson describing the settlement as the "third largest natural resource recovery in the country's history."[^5] The record does not connect these allocations to decisions made during Corrigan's tenure.[^5] ## How The record gives this sequence: 1. The agency's emerging-contaminants scientist documented PFC discharges and contamination in fish.[^1] 2. She was disciplined for talking to the press.[^1] 3. She filed a federal suit on August 18, 2005.[^1] 4. She was paid $325,000, and her resignation took effect on February 2, 2006.[^1] The record shows this sequence of outputs. It does not establish why the agency acted as it did.[^1][^3] ## In the at-issue record Corrigan appears in one at-issue row, AI-Washington-010. That row comes from the section *The Referral Architecture & the County That Got the Prison Edition* (APEX §VI).[^2] The row draws on two sources, a news outlet and an organization (mprnews.org and peer.org).[^1][^3] Its primary anchor is a Minnesota Department of Health history page, which the row cites to date the window in which the events took place.[^2] ## Notes [^1]: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), *State Pays Scientist $325,000 to Resign* (advocacy organization; date not given in pack). The report establishes the following: Oliaei joined the MPCA in 1989; up to 50,000 lbs/yr of PFCs were discharged to the Mississippi; PFCs were found in half of fish sampled from Voyageurs National Park; Commissioner Sheryl Corrigan was a former 3M executive; Corrigan's reported "for scientific work" remark; a federal suit was filed August 18, 2005; the payment was $325,000; and the resignation took effect February 2, 2006. Internal quotations are PEER's account. https://peer.org/state-pays-scientist-325-000-to-resign/ [^2]: Minnesota Department of Health, *History* (environmental hazards topics page; date not given in pack). This page is the primary anchor cited by at-issue row AI-Washington-010 to date the PFAS discovery window. https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/hazardous/topics/history.html [^3]: MPR News, coverage of a hearing on the spread of PFCs (Feb. 27, 2006). This is contemporaneous coverage cited in the at-issue row. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2006/02/27/pfcsspreadhearing [^4]: MPR News, coverage of whistleblower Fardin Oliaei and the state's deal with 3M on water pollution (Feb. 23, 2018). This report establishes Oliaei's reported dissatisfaction with the state's deal with 3M. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/02/23/whistleblower-fardin-oliaei-not-happy-over-state-deal-with-3m-on-water-pollution [^5]: *Star Tribune*, report on the state's final allocation of its forever-chemicals settlement with 3M (Aug. 18, 2021). This report establishes the final allocation figures announced by MPCA Commissioner Peter Tester and Swanson's quoted description of the settlement. https://www.startribune.com/state-finalizes-payouts-from-minnesota-s-850-million-forever-chemicals-settlement-with-3m/600089057