(Adds hearings underway in paragraph 5, Waxman recommendations,paragraph 14)
June 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is indisarray and has struggled to finish investigations into seriousaccidents at chemical plants and refineries that in one casekilled seven people, according to a draft report by twoCongressional committees.
The report, prepared by the House Committee on Oversight andGovernment Reform and the Committee on Science, Space andTechnology, said CSB Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso and two otherofficials have created an "abusive and hostile work environment"at the board's offices. The report was issued on Thursday.
As a result, experienced investigators have left, accordingto the report, and delayed probes such as the one into the 2010explosion at Tesoro Petroleum Corp's refinery inAnacortes, Washington, that killed seven.
The committee report also said the board did not issueurgent recommendations to correct safety risks at Tesoro'sAnacortes refinery as soon as possible due to CSB infighting.
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform wasconducting a hearing on Thursday on the CSB's management, saidChairman Darrel Issa, a California Republican.
In a statement prepared for an appearance before Issa'scommittee, Moure-Eraso said the CSB is a small agency carryingout large, complex investigations. He added that the U.S.General Accountability Office had faulted the board's managementin a 2008 report.
But since being appointed chairman by President Barack Obamain 2010, Moure-Eraso said he has worked to improve agencymanagement.
"I reorganized lines of management to create clear lines ofauthority as well as accountability that were virtuallynon-existent before 2010," he said. "The result has been toraise the already high quality of CSB reports and broaden thescope of the root cause investigations."
The CSB's final report on the Tesoro explosion was issuedearlier this year.
One reason for slow investigations, the report said, was theboard's decision to take on the complex probe of the 2010explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig contracted to BPPlc . The CSB's investigation into the explosion,which killed 11 people and led to a massive oil spill in theGulf of Mexico, was its first of an offshore accident.
The board, which has an annual budget of $11 million, hasspent over $4 million on the Deepwater Horizon probe, parts ofwhich are ongoing.
An unidentified former board member told the committee'sinvestigators that the board's probe was probably a mistake asother agencies completed their own inquiries years before theboard issued its first reports on the disaster, according to thereport.
The board has sought publicity by deploying investigators tochemical accidents, but been less concerned with completing theprobes, the report said.
Rep. Henry Waxman of California, the top Democrat on theHouse Energy and Commerce Committee, made recommendations in Mayto the CSB, aimed at ending infighting among board members andimproving its operations, according to a committee spokeswoman.
(For link to report click: http://oversight.house.gov/report/leadership-failure-chemical-safety-board-jeopardizes-agency-mission-puts-safety-risk/) (Reporting by Erwin Seba in Houston; Editing by Terry Wade,Andre Grenon and Jeffrey Benkoe)