Randall Woodfin urges Birmingham community to sign EPA petition
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin is urging members of the Birmingham community to sign a petition addressed to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) insisting that they add the North Birmingham 35th Avenue Superfund Site to their National Priorities list. “In light of the recent revelations concerning public corruption, we believe the environmental injustices in North Birmingham must be addressed and prioritized by the Environmental Protection Agency,” the Birmingham City website reads. “A site may be included on the EPA National Priorities List if it has scored greater than a 28.5 on the Hazard Ranking System. The North Birmingham 35th Avenue Superfund Site scored a 50, almost twice the minimum requirements.” On Tuesday, at a community forum Woodfin spoke out against the actions of the several Birmingham professionals tied to the site who were convicted of bribery, wire fraud and money laundering; and announced he was sending a letter to the EPA, AL.com reported. “He said their actions were “morally wrong,” and he is “going to go to bat” for the people of north Birmingham.” In a letter addressed to the EPA’s new acting chief Andrew Wheeler, Woodfin addresses the corruption concerning the site, and recommends remedies to improve the site and the community surrounding it saying: As a result of these illegal actions, thousands remain at risk including the 1,070 people living in 394 public housing units and 751 children attending Hudson K-8 school. The necessary remedies include, but are not limited to, screening and health care to address pollution related health issues, relocation and reconstruction of Hudson K-8 school, non-resident redevelopment of the North Birmingham 35th Avenue Superfund Site and reclamation of Village Creek. In light of the recent revelations concerning the public corruption, we believe this situation demands a much more robust response. The United States Attorney has already done their part by exposing this criminal hoax and bringing those responsible to justice. Still, these injustices continue until the North Birmingham 35th Avenue Superfund Site is placed on the National Priorities List and all necessary resources are provided to the people of this community. Members of the Birmingham community who are interested may sign the petition here. Read Woodfin’s full letter to the EPA below: Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin s Letter to EPA
New EPA acting chief, Andrew Wheeler reassures agency’s staffers
The new acting head of the Environmental Protection Agency is telling agency staffers that he has their backs and will seek their input as he sets the way forward for the troubled agency. Andrew Wheeler spoke to EPA staffers Wednesday for the first time since Scott Pruitt quit as agency administrator last week after months of ethics scandals. Wheeler made no mention of the allegations that led to Pruitt’s resignation. But he told staffers he understands how stressful management changes are. Wheeler, speaking at agency headquarters, told workers, “You will find me and my team ready to listen.” Pruitt had been battling federal investigations over his luxury spending, high security costs and other matters. He had also been accused of shutting out career staffers at the EPA. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Scott Pruitt is out, handing EPA reins to former coal lobbyist
Bowing out after months of scandals, Scott Pruitt is turning the Environmental Protection Agency over to a far less flashy deputy who is expected to continue Pruitt’s rule-cutting, business-friendly ways as steward of the country’s environment. With Pruitt’s departure, President Donald Trump lost an administrator many conservatives regarded as one of the more effective members of his Cabinet. But Pruitt had also been dogged for months by scandals that spawned more than a dozen federal and congressional investigations. EPA Deputy Administrator Andrew Wheeler, a former coal industry lobbyist, will take the helm as acting administrator starting Monday. “I have no doubt that Andy will continue on with our great and lasting EPA agenda,” Trump tweeted Thursday in announcing Pruitt’s resignation. Republicans say Wheeler is well-qualified to lead the EPA, having worked at the agency early in his career. He also was a top aide at the Senate Environment Committee before becoming a lobbyist nine years ago. Democrats and environmental groups decried Wheeler as an apologist for the coal industry. He’s also a former top aide to GOP Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, who rejects mainstream climate science. Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico, one of the most relentless and vocal of Pruitt’s Democratic critics in Congress, said he expects more of the same with Wheeler as chief. “Somebody that destructive, I think it’s good to have them go, no doubt about it,” Udall said of Pruitt in an interview. “But let’s not forget he was carrying out President Trump’s policies.” The prospect of more EPA rollbacks even after Pruitt is gone is “really, really worrisome to me,” he said. “The head of the agency’s changed, but I don’t think there’s any indication that the acting administrator will do anything any different.” Talking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump continued to praise his scandal-plagued EPA chief, saying there was “no final straw” and he had not asked for Pruitt’s resignation. “Scott is a terrific guy,” Trump said. “He came to me and said I have such great confidence in the administration I don’t want to be a distraction. … He’ll go and do great things and have a wonderful life, I hope.” In his resignation letter to Trump, obtained by The Associated Press, Pruitt expressed no regrets. “It is extremely difficult for me to cease serving you in this role first because I count it a blessing to be serving you in any capacity, but also, because of the transformative work that is occurring,” Pruitt wrote. “However, the unrelenting attacks on me personally, my family, are unprecedented and have taken a sizable toll on all of us.” Pruitt, a Republican, had appeared Wednesday at a White House picnic for Independence Day, wearing a red-checked shirt and loafers with gold trim. Trump gave him and other officials a brief shout-out, offering no sign of any immediate change in his job. Pruitt’s resignation came days after two of his closest advisers spoke to House oversight committee investigators and revealed new, embarrassing details in ethics scandals involving Pruitt. Samantha Dravis, who recently resigned as Pruitt’s policy chief, told investigators last week that Pruitt had made clear to her before and after he became EPA administrator that he would like the attorney general’s job, held then and now by Jeff Sessions. Pruitt “had hinted at that (sic) some sort of conversation had taken place between he and the president,” Dravis told congressional investigators, according to a transcript obtained Thursday by the AP. “That was the position he was originally interested in.” A former Oklahoma attorney general close to the oil and gas industry, Pruitt had filed more than a dozen lawsuits against the agency he was picked to lead. Arriving in Washington, he worked relentlessly to dismantle Obama-era environmental regulations that aimed to reduce toxic pollution and planet-warming carbon emissions. During his less than two-year tenure, Pruitt crisscrossed the country at taxpayer expense to speak with industry groups and hobnob with GOP donors, but he showed little interest in listening to advocates he derided as “the environmental left.” Those groups quickly applauded his departure. “Despite his brief tenure, Pruitt was the worst EPA chief in history,” said Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity. “His corruption was his downfall, but his pro-polluter policies will have our kids breathing dirtier air long after his many scandals are forgotten.” Like Trump, Pruitt voiced skepticism about mainstream climate science and was a fierce critic of the Paris climate agreement. The president cheered his EPA chief’s moves to boost fossil fuel production and roll back regulations opposed by corporate interests. But despite boasts of slashing red tape and promoting job creation, Pruitt had a mixed record of producing real-world results. Many of the EPA regulations Pruitt scraped or delayed had not yet taken effect, and the tens of thousands of lost coal mining jobs the president pledged to bring back never materialized. Pruitt quit following a series of revelations involving pricey trips with first-class airline seats and unusual security spending, including a $43,000 soundproof booth for making private phone calls. He also demanded 24-hour-a-day protection from armed officers, resulting in a swollen 20-member security detail that blew through overtime budgets and racked up expenses of more than $3 million. Pruitt routinely ordered his EPA staff to do personal chores for him, including picking up his dry cleaning and trying to obtain a used Trump hotel mattress for his apartment. He had also enlisted his staff to contact conservative groups and companies to find a lucrative job for his unemployed wife, including emails seeking a Chick-fil-A franchise from a senior executive at the fast-food chain. Pruitt’s job had appeared in jeopardy since the end of March, when ABC News first reported that he leased a Capitol Hill condo last year for just $50 a night. It was co-owned by the wife of a veteran fossil fuels lobbyist whose firm had sought regulatory rollbacks from EPA. The slew of damaging revelations, many of which came to
Scandal-plagued EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt resigns
President Donald Trump says he has accepted the resignation of scandal-plagued Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt. Pruitt had become a constant source of embarrassment to a president who had entered Washington promising to “Drain the Swamp.” Pruitt has faced an array of ethical questions about his travel spending, security costs, dealings with industry lobbyists and misuse of government resources. He had denied wrongdoing in the face of multiple congressional and oversight inquiries. Despite the scandals, Trump has been approving of Pruitt’s efforts to reduce regulations that the administration says curb business growth. Trump writes on Twitter, “Within the Agency Scott has done an outstanding job.” Activists have argued those cuts have endangered the environment. Trump tweets that Deputy Administrator Andrew Wheeler will assume the acting administrator position Monday. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
