Wednesday, May 04, 2016

GOP senators call for criminal probe of EPA mine waste spill

Two Republicans on the Indian Affairs Committee are asking the Justice Department to investigate potential criminal activities by environmental regulators before a mine waste spill in Colorado last year. In a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Tuesday, Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the chairman of the committee, and John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees may have broken the law by moving forward with clean-up work at the Gold King Mine last August before spilling 3 million gallons of waste into the nearby Animas River. “We ask that you review the circumstances surrounding the Gold King Mine spill to determine specifically whether evidence warrants the prosecution of any EPA manager, employee or contractor for the criminal violation of federal environmental law, criminal negligence, obstruction or any other crime,” the pair wrote. “With the conduct of EPA employees and contractors having been stipulated as causing the Gold King Mine spill, DOJ’s involvement is necessary to affirm that the government is willing to hold itself to the same level of accountability as it holds private companies whose negligence results in serious environmental damage.”...more

No comments: