Claim: EPA watchdog: Health monitoring after Harvey was lacking.
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: Range Resources
text: the hearing, but did not. In March 2012, the EPA dropped its order against the company. In December 2013, the federal Office of the Inspector General, addressing complaints by six US senators, issued a report concluding that the EPA had been justified in issuing its 2010 emergency order, and had acted reasonably in withdrawing the order after the company had agreed to groundwater quality monitoring. The top EPA official from Region 6 who oversaw the Parker County water contamination case resigned in 2012 amidst a video surfacing of him advocating for the "crucifying" of oil companies. In 2018, a study

title: New York City Department of Environmental Protection
text: 2003, the Office of Environmental, Health and Safety Compliance (EHS) was formed to administer the DEP's comprehensive safety and compliance efforts, which included the EHS Employee Concerns Program. In 2006, the term of probation was extended and the BWT was included under the federal monitor's oversight following a discharge of untreated sewage into the East River after emergency generators failed to operate during the August 2003 blackout. On December 25, 2009, probation and federal oversight of the DEP ended. Facilitates DEP employee reporting of observed environmental violations and unsafe employee conditions. Helps employees identify and prevent the harassment and intimidation

title: Hurricane Harvey
text: related storm damage and releases of hazardous pollutants. Two oil storage tanks owned by Burlington Resources Oil and Gas collectively spilled 30,000 gallons of crude in DeWitt County. An additional 8,500 gallons of wastewater was spilled in the incidents. On August 30, the CEO of Arkema warned one of its chemical plants in Crosby, Texas, could explode or be subject to intense fire due to the loss of "critical refrigeration" of materials. All workers at the facility and residents within were evacuated. Eight of the plant's nine refrigeration units failed without power, enabling the stored chemicals to decompose and become

title: Michael Dourson
text: bronze medals for his work on IRIS, ambient water criteria, sewage sludge rulemaking, and developing risk methodology during his 15-year tenure with the agency. He also served as a member of EPA’s Science Advisory Board for six years. Dourson worked in various roles in Cincinnati, Chicago, and Washington D.C. before founding the nonprofit Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA) in 1995. TERA determines the risk profile of chemicals, and maintained the International Toxicity Estimates for Risk (ITER) database until TERA was absorbed by the University of Cincinnati in 2015. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET) includes

title: BioWatch
text: that, as EPA filters are located based on different policies than what would provide optimum locations for counter-bioterrorism sensors, the BioWatch filters may not be optimally located. Furthermore, the BioWatch system may miss releases that take place within the gaps in coverage. The House of Representatives also concluded that models used to predict the spread of an infectious agent after release and detection may be inaccurate. The Congressional Report also raises concerns as to whether BioWatch can detect pathogens in large, polluted cities, as well as issues relating to the BioWatch filter reporting harmful pathogens that are actually within safe

title: Flint water crisis
text: Leader Jim Ananich, Democrat of Flint, said, "There's been a failure at all levels to accurately assess the scale of the public health crisis in Flint, and that problem is ongoing. However, the EPA's Miguel Del Toral did excellent work in trying to expose this disaster. Anyone who read his memo and failed to act should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law." Del Toral later told "The Flint Journal", "I was stunned when I found out they did not have corrosion control in place. In my head, I didn't believe that. I thought: That can't be

title: Health effects arising from the September 11 attacks
text: Bush has been faulted by the Sierra Club for allegedly interfering with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) interpretations and pronouncements regarding air quality. On September 18, 2001, EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman told the public, via a press release, "We are very encouraged that the results from our monitoring of air-quality and drinking-water conditions in both New York and near the Pentagon show that the public in these areas is not being exposed to excessive levels of asbestos or other harmful substances" and that "Given the scope of the tragedy from last week, I am glad to reassure

title: Food & Water Watch
text: organization’s campaigns. It has supported work opposing the use of pollution trading to solve environmental challenges as well as calls for more regulations of concentrated animal feeding operations. Food & Water Watch sued the USDA’s Farm Service Agency in 2017 for “failing to adequately consider environmental impacts before supporting a loan guarantee for a poultry operation on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.” The organization's lawyers also backed the Environmental Protection Agency in a 2016 suit that challenged the agency’s practice of making public the location of permitted concentrated animal feeding operations. BP Whistleblower Following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Disaster, a subcontractor

title: Hurricane Harvey
text: on Mexico's Gulf Coast, on September 9, 2017. Venezuela offered $5 million through the state-owned Citgo Petroleum, which operates a refinery in Corpus Christi. The floodwaters contain a number of hazards to the environment and human health. The Houston Health Department stated that "millions of contaminants" were present in floodwaters. These include "E. coli" and coliform bacteria; measurements of colony-forming units showed the concentrations were so high that there were risks of contracting flesh-eating disease from the water. Houston officials stated that the Houston drinking water and sewer systems were intact; however, "hundreds of thousands of people across the 38

title: Newburgh, New York
text: leaving the office vacant until her successor Torrance Harvey was appointed the following month. In May 2016, the city requested help for its PFOS contaminated water supply under Superfund; The source of the contamination was foam used during firefighting drills held by the Stewart Air National Guard Fire Department. Representative Sean Patrick Maloney demanded Emergency Action after EPA announced PFOA and PFOS Standards for Drinking Water, and called Stewart Air National Guard Base being "the most likely source" of contamination. Tensions flared during the city's hotly contested 1995 mayoral election. Allegations of electoral fraud had dogged the city's first African-American

title: Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976
text: February 4, 2014, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held hearings on the CSIA right after the incident. In the aftermath of the spill, the House approved a bill 95-0 which provides safeguards for chemical storage tanks and public water supplies. It included new requirements on early detection technology and plans that protect against drinking water contamination. The lack of attention to "hot spots" and protecting those at risk, such as workers and economically disadvantaged communities has been a main concern of many environmental justice groups. These "hot spots" have been the most at risk to various chemicals

title: Lead contamination in Washington, D.C. drinking water
text: Hall, and wrote profiles of key players. Leonnig reported on the federal and EPA response to the contamination. Cohn investigated the Washington Aqueduct angle and worked with water quality and environmental experts. Goldstein covered the DC Department of Health. Becker looked at water quality nationwide. After the first article appeared, residents inundated WASA's water hotline with calls and overwhelmed water testing laboratories with requests to have their tap water tested for lead contamination. District elected officials immediately called for an emergency public meeting, and established an inter-agency task force with the EPA to investigate and manage the problem. However, messages

title: Water contamination in Crestwood, Illinois
text: officials wrongdoing. Hawthorne investigated Crestwood's actions and then wrote the article "Poison in the Well" which was published on April 19, 2009. The Chicago Tribune wrote on April 21, 2009 "Governor Pat Quinn is demanding answers from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency about why residents of south suburban Crestwood weren't notified that the village had pumped drinking water contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals for more than two decades. Quinn directed his senior staff to conduct a thorough review of the EPA's actions in Crestwood. Among other things, the governor wants to know why the agency didn't invoke a 2005 law requiring

title: Emergency Responder Health Monitoring and Surveillance
text: 2007 declared that there had been insufficient protection of 9/11 recovery workers and that future disasters should have an incident safety management structure in place that can make safety decisions and has the equipment, capabilities, and authority needed to implement and enforce them effectively. In 2008, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report entitled, “September 11: HHS Needs to Develop a Plan That Incorporates Lessons from the Responder Health Programs.” This report called for a “plan for responder screening and monitoring services that defines the roles of HHS components and incorporates the lessons from the WTC health programs.” The

title: Flint water crisis
text: an interview with the "Detroit News" published on January 12, 2016, Hedman said that "the recommendation to DEQ (regarding the need for corrosion controls) occurred at higher and higher levels during this time period. And the answer kept coming back from DEQ that 'no, we are not going to make a decision until after we see more testing results.'" Hedman said the EPA did not go public with its concerns earlier because (1) state and local governments have primary responsibility for drinking water quality and safety; (2) there was insufficient evidence at that point of the extent of the danger;

title: Emergency Responder Health Monitoring and Surveillance
text: report named five lessons learned, including registering all responders, implementing robust physical and mental health screening and monitoring, providing treatment referral services, and ensuring that all responders, regardless of employment status or location, could access the same screening and monitoring programs and services. The 2007 RAND testimony also concluded that the lessons of 9/11 had not been implemented in the response effort for Hurricane Katrina. According to the GAO, during the Katrina response, emergency response workers were not accurately rostered, and lack of cooperation between FEMA and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) led to inadequate monitoring of workers’

title: Water contamination in Crestwood, Illinois
text: as well as the police department. The South Town Star Newspaper reported "A total of 15 EPA agents, state police investigators and members of the U.S. Coast Guard’s investigative service unit arrived at 9 a.m. and combed village offices for records until sometime around 5 p.m." Reporter Nathaniel Zimmer said "Speaking in the vestibule of village hall, EPA Special Agent in Charge Randall Ashe said the agents were searching for "any evidence of crimes that may have occurred." A US Government UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter provided "air support" during the raid. The authorities spent the entire day removing boxes of

title: RAE Systems
text: oil rig, and Total’s Elgin platform gas leak that took place in March 2012. The company’s monitors are utilized by energy companies for exploration, refining as well as downstream monitoring and safety. In the industrial safety market, there is an increasing awareness that long-term exposure to even very low concentrations of toxic or hazardous gases can adversely affect workers’ health. Companies and organizations need constant monitoring and detection solutions to measure the acceptable level of toxic gas exposure to personnel. In the oil & gas, industrial production, fire and HazMat, national security, and environmental industries, the company’s products are deployed

title: John Manzoni
text: BP at the time of the Texas City Refinery explosion in 2005, in which 15 people were killed and 170 injured, and was thus the responsible board member. An internal BP investigation cleared him of "serious neglect or intentional misconduct" but said he should have taken more steps to consider and mitigate the risks long before the disaster occurred. The investigation found Manzoni had paid insufficient attention to safety and failed to spot clear warning signs. It accused him of failing to perform his duties in the run-up to the explosion and of engaging in a "simply not acceptable" standoff

title: Hydraulic fracturing in the United States
text: time and funds. However, some members of the Science Advisory Board (SAB) urged the SAB to advise the EPA to reinstate the toxicity testing of hydraulic fracturing chemicals. Chesapeake Energy agreed, stating “an in-depth study of toxicity, the development of new analytical methods and tracers are not practical given the budget and schedule limitation of the study.” Thus, despite concerns about the elevated levels of iodine-131 (a radioactive tracer used in hydraulic fracturing) in drinking water in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, downstream from hydraulic fracturing sites, iodine-131 is not listed among the chemicals to be monitored in the draft plan for