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Colorado Whistleblowers Ask for EPA Intervention at Commerce City Power Plant

by Law Week Colorado | May 17, 2021
“Attorneys for state employee whistleblowers are asking EPA administrator Michael Regan to reexamine an emissions permit granted to the Cherokee Generating Station north of Denver. If the Biden administration agrees to the request, Xcel Energy may be forced to obtain a new emissions ...

Panel Meets to Unearth Meddling in Federal Scientists’ Work, Contemplate How to Avoid Future Interference

by Government Executive | May 14, 2021
“The White House on Friday held its first task force meeting to develop strategies for empowering career federal scientists, including through identifying incidents of interference in previous administrations. Tim Whitehouse, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental ...

Enforcement inspections, monitoring plummeted

by E&E News | May 12, 2021
“EPA’s inspector general today issued another damning report showing the agency’s pursuit of polluters violating federal air, water and toxics laws has plummeted. “Enforcement decline was exacerbated by the Trump administration, but this is not solely a Trump issue ...

Probe reveals toxic workplace in enforcement office

by E&E News | May 12, 2021
“EPA’s inspector general issued a stinging rebuke of the agency’s forensics center, highlighting challenges left for the Biden administration to address. Tim Whitehouse, a former EPA enforcement official, generally found the report “unsurprising,” saying the ...

Group slams big spending by leftover Trump appointee

by E&E News | May 11, 2021
“A lingering Trump appointee overseeing the struggling federal agency charged with investigating chemical disasters is spending excessive amounts of taxpayer money, according to documents obtained by a watchdog group. Katherine Lemos, chair of the Chemical Safety and Hazard ...

PEER Accuses CSB Chair Of Misspending Funds, Undermining Nominees

by Inside EPA | May 11, 2021
“An environmental whistleblower group claims Katherine Lemos, chair and sole current member of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) rewrote the panel’s governing rules to “consolidate” her power at the expense of three pending nominees, and claims she has ...

Colorado used since-“retired” memo when writing disputed Suncor refinery pollution permit

by Colorado Sun | May 10, 2021
“In drafting their long-disputed permit renewal for Suncor Energy’s refinery in Commerce City, state air pollution officials used the same 2010 internal guidance memo that they recently “retired” after whistleblowers called the memo illegal and protested it with the ...

Whistleblowers ask AG to expand probe into Colorado air pollution division

by Colorado Sun | May 7, 2021
“Attorneys for the whistleblowing state air pollution division employees late Friday asked the Colorado Attorney General’s Office to broadly expand the scope of its previously announced investigation into the state health department’s handling of numerous industry permits. The ...

Rensselaer’s Dunn landfill may have to re-apply for permit next year

by Times Union | May 7, 2021
“The controversial SA Dunn landfill will have to apply for what would essentially be a new permit rather than for a renewal of their existing permit to accept construction and demolition debris. That would be a more extensive process, with more scrutiny than a renewal. Additionally, ...

Whistleblower complaint filed over Trump-era demotion

by E&E News | May 7, 2021
“The former head of EPA’s Office of Children’s Health Protection has filed a whistleblower complaint with the agency asking to be restored to her former post. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which is representing Etzel, said she is working as a ...

Delray Beach officials didn’t report illness possibly connected to drinking water

by CW34 | May 6, 2021
“A new report from the Palm Beach County Office of Inspector General (OIG) revealed the City of Delray Beach failed to disclose to the Florida Department of Health that a resident possibly got sick from drinking water mixed with reclaimed water. A whistleblower report had been ...

Internal EPA memo urges agents to up inspections

by E&E News | May 4, 2021
“EPA’s top enforcement official has directed agents to ramp up inspections in communities that have long been afflicted by pollution and called on agents “to step in and take necessary action” in cases where state regulators are falling short on the job. Kyla ...

The obvious truth about Delray’s drinking water

by South Florida Sun Sentinel | May 2, 2021
“It’s probably apocryphal, but German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer supposedly said, “All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as self-evident.” Regardless of whether he said it back in the 19th ...

PFAS in Pesticides Problem Ensnares States, Small Businesses

by Bloomberg Law | April 30, 2021
“A decision by Maryland to switch mosquito sprays due to “forever chemicals” reveals choices that states and companies are quickly making as they and the EPA tackle a quandary: PFAS in pesticides. Maryland’s Department of Agriculture is pausing plans to use Bayer CropScience LP ...

Group questions Yellowstone’s fiber optic project

by Billings Gazette | April 30, 2021
“Yellowstone National Park’s proposal to bury fiber optic cable alongside 187 miles of roadway has drawn fire from an environmental group. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility wrote in a recent press release, “Unfortunately, those roads traverse areas that run the ...

Zion National Park’s cell tower secret

by KJZZ | April 30, 2021
“As the weather warms up, many of us are thinking about getting outdoors. For a lot of Utahns, that means enjoying one of our Mighty Five national parks. But the 2News Investigative Team found that one park was operating in secret — at least when it came to adding a cell tower ...

Who Wants More ATVs?

by Sierra Magazine | April 29, 2021
“Inyo County has old-growth forests and pristine alpine lakes nestled between granite peaks that top 14,000 feet. Home to bears and marmots, this remote California county also boasts volcanic tablelands, high-elevation desert, and the oldest trees on Earth. Many endangered and ...

Cheers, jeers as Biden skips the fine print

by E&E News | April 29, 2021
“On the eve of his 100th day in office, President Biden used his first address to Congress to illustrate his quick start out of the gate, referencing climate change far more than his predecessors and aiming to balance his bold vision with his moderate sensibilities. Kyla Bennett, a ...

Ousted EPA Children’s Health Chief Seeks Return, Eyes Focus on Equity

by Inside EPA | April 29, 2021
“Ruth Etzel, the former director of EPA’s Office of Children’s Health Protection (OCHP) ousted by the Trump administration, is pursuing a whistleblower complaint that could return her to the helm of OCHP, just as she is calling for regulators to adopt a new approach to chemical ...

Former mining company attorney regularly granted a past client exemptions as Colorado’s head of air pollution control, records show

by Colorado Sun | April 28, 2021
“The director of the state’s Air Pollution Control Division repeatedly signed off on exemptions to pollution limits for the world’s largest gold miner, Newmont Corp. — a company that he previously represented as an attorney in private practice, according to state records. “ ...
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