Lauren Lantry, lauren.lantry@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On Friday, the White House announced that Trump has nominated Peter Wright, a corporate lawyer for Dow Chemical Company, to serve as EPA’s Assistant Administrator for Land and Emergency Management. The office of Land and Energy Management oversees emergency response to hazardous spills and cleanups of the nation’s most toxic sites, including the Superfund program.
Wright has worked as a corporate lawyer at Dow Chemical Co. since 1999, where he provided counsel for the chemical company on cleaning up their Superfund sites. Dow and Dupont, the chemical company Dow recently merged with, are responsible parties for more than 100 of the toxic sites currently undergoing or slated for cleanup across the nation. Dow had accrued $219 million in obligations for remediating Superfund sites, and $1.3 billion in“probable environmental remediation and restoration costs,” according to the company’s fourth quarter 2017 10-K filing. Dow contributed $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee.
In response, Sierra Club Public Health Policy Director Liz Perera released the following statement:
"Since 1999, Peter Wright has been fighting against much needed Superfund clean up efforts for Dow Chemicals, a chemical company responsible for creating more than 100 superfund sites. But now, Donald Trump wants to give Wright the keys to the shop charged with cleaning up these toxic sites. Wright’s obvious conflicts of interest with the chemical industry make him wholly unfit for this position.
“Like so many of Trump's nominees and appointees, Wright is not fit to serve in any capacity other than as a hired hand for polluting industries. The Senate should oppose this toxic nomination so that the health of the American people is not sacrificed to the Trump Administration's shameless pandering to the most dangerous industries in the country."
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.