Monday, February 13, 2017

Trump admin. - Just like Obama - wants Gold King Mine spill case dismissed

The Trump administration is asking a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit by New Mexico and the Navajo Nation over a 2015 mine-waste spill caused by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The Justice Department filed a brief Monday arguing that the EPA, as a government agency, has sovereign immunity because its workers and contractors were trying to clean up the abandoned Gold King Mine when it caused the spill in Colorado. The government is continuing the same argument of the Obama administration, which concluded in January that the EPA was legally barred from paying out the $1.2 billion in claims from people, businesses, governments and others who said they were harmed by the spill. Republicans and government representatives near the spill site slammed the Obama administration for that decision, saying its response to the incident was inadequate.“These claims against EPA ignore well-settled law that [the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act] does not waive EPA’s sovereign immunity to suit when its sole connection to the site at issue arises from exercising its authority under CERCLA to respond to other entities’ legacy contamination,” the Justice Department wrote to the federal court in New Mexico...more

As you can see, it doesn't matter who is elected President, the government always protects the government.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well then he should dismiss all cases and the authority of the EPA/ACE against American citizens for so-called violations of the CWA.