After an AP story about the numerous Houston-area Superfund sites that have been flooded but have apparently not been inspected yet by the EPA to see what contamination may be occurring, or what toxins may be flowing offsite, the EPA refuted the story by noting that inspections had occurred, water toxicity tested, and that teams were onsite addressing all problems.
Ha! No, of course they didn’t. Instead they offered up a lengthy press release basically saying, “Hey, we flew over most of them, and called up some people, so that counts” and then …
… spent three-quarters of the release attacking the AP and the article’s author as being mean to the EPA Director Scott Pruitt in the past, linking to a Breitbart (!) story about how mean the journalist has been before, and extensively quoting an Oklahoma newspaper that criticized the journalist for questioning why Pruitt — previously EPA-suing Attorney General of Oklahoma — was so buddy-buddy with oil and gas industry.
Yeah, this is today’s Environmental Protection Agency, vigorously protecting … their director’s reputation.
Donald Trump’s EPA Is Now Attacking Journalists [Updated]
On Saturday, Associated Press journalists Jason Dearen and Michael Biesecker reported at least five toxic, Houston-area Superfund sites in the path of Hurricane Harvey had been deluged with floodwater, potentially distributing the assorted nasty things contained within across a much larger geographical area. The AP report noted while its reporters were able to access the sites via boat, the Environmental Protection Agency was not on scene, and di…
