Fearing a public relations nightmare, Scott Pruitt’s EPA and the Trump administration decided to withhold a study for 6 months that detailed drinking water contamination at more than 125 Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps bases from toxic perfluoroalkyls (PFAS) exposure. Before the report release, the EPA had been assuring military members that higher levels of PFAS exposure were safe, but the new report details the safe levels of PFAS are much lower, meaning the more than 3 million military members, military families and veterans who get their drinking water from from Department of Defense systems are all at greater risk.
Tulsa, OK—Yesterday, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt granted the request by his home state of Oklahoma to exempt coal ash dumps from federal oversight. This decision puts the health and welfare of Oklahomans at risk and it violates federal law. The move is especially shocking in light of evidence that every coal ash dump in the state tested positive for toxic contamination in nearby groundwater.
A new letter to Scott Pruitt from Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), the Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee, finds that new policies implemented at the EPA to process FOIA requests are delaying the release of information on Pruitt’s activities and behavior at the EPA.
Today, the Washington Post reported that Scott Pruitt used the largest EPA security detail in history - funded by taxpayer dollars - to run errands for him, including going lotion shopping and picking up his dry cleaning.
Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt abused his position at EPA in an attempt to secure a Chick-fil-a franchise for his wife. In emails obtained via the Sierra Club’s FOIA litigation, Pruitt’s taxpayer-funded staff are revealed to have reached out to Chick-fil-a to pursue a “business opportunity” that turned out to be this money-making effort by Pruitt. In response, Senator Joni Ernst said Pruitt “is about as swampy as you get here in Washington, DC. And if the president wants to drain the swamp, he needs to take a look at his own Cabinet.” Senator James Inhofe, one of Pruitt’s closest allies, stated “I don't know whether it is true or not. It is not going to help his career. Nonetheless, that could be a problem if it turns out to be true."
Boise, ID -- Today, amid a deluge of corruption scandals and serious questions about his abuse of taxpayer dollars, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt is visiting Boise, Idaho. Already, Pruitt spoke with KIDO Talk Radio host Kevin Miller about Pruitt’s long record of attacking clean air and water safeguards that protect the health of Idaho families.
As EPA administrator Scott Pruitt’s scandals continue to accrue, he’s refusing to answer questions from the Senate about his violations of the law. Amid new reports of excessive spending, use of EPA staff time to meet his personal needs, and extravagant gifts from coal barons, Pruitt is expected to blow through today’s Senate deadline for providing information on his ethical lapses stemming from last month’s hearing.
Today the Washington Post reported that EPA administrator Scott Pruitt spent $1,560 of taxpayer dollars on 12 fountain pens from the Tiny Jewel Box, which calls itself Washington’s “premier destination for fine jewelry and watches.” The purchases were revealed as a result of a Sierra Club Freedom of Information Act request. Pruitt spent more taxpayer dollars per pen (~$130) than he did of his own money per night ($50) and even per month ($1500) on his luxury condo rental.
Yesterday, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said that if we "really care about clean air," the U.S. should export coal from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming to Asia and Indonesia.
Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment, Amigos Bravos, San Juan Citizens Alliance, Center for Biological Diversity, and the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit today for an order requiring the EPA to finalize the Four Corners Generating Station’s water pollution permit. The EPA has missed two permitting cycles to update the coal plant’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) water pollution permit that was last issued in 2001.
Not content with having violated multiple federal laws already, Scott Pruitt escalated matters to violating the Constitution today when reporters were thrown out -- including an Associated Press reporter being physically accosted -- at a “summit” on deadly toxins polluting waterways and drinking water.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- After keeping Americans in the dark on a number of deadly chemicals contaminating our water, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt is now violently barring The Associated Press, CNN and E&E news from a national summit on harmful water contaminants.