[Ben Ficklin]

This article from the Medford OR paper mentions that of the 7 involved in the hoax, one has retired and six have been tranferred.

That one has retired is a significant departure from earlier stories. The earlier stories implied that all 7 were low level employees but if one is of, or close to, retirement age, that would imply an advanced position in the orginization.

[RobertFrost]

I think that linked article from the Seattle Times is just an attempt to save-face for the scientists... this has obviously gotten too mixed up to make sense of.

Which makes it glaringly apparent that environmental scientists and organizations will never be known for following credible science. With messes & scandals like this one, it is obvious that you can never trust anything they say.