EPA official speaks on risk of climate change to toxic sites
Scott Pruitt
The testimony by EPA Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator Barry Breen before a House oversight subcommittee conflicts with the agency's policy positions under President Donald Trump  who has called climate change a hoax. Breen's boss  EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt  is an ardent fossil fuel promoter who questions the validity of mainstream climate science.
Under the Obama administration  EPA issued a robust plan for prioritizing cleanup and protection of toxic sites located in flood zones and areas vulnerable to sea level rise. However  a Superfund Task Force appointed by  Pruitt  last year issued a 34-page list of recommendations that makes no mention of climate change  flooding risks from stronger storms or rising seas.
EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox did not respond to questions Thursday about whether  Pruitt  agreed with Breen's testimony or precisely what the agency is currently doing to address to risks posed to Superfund sites by climate change.
 Pruitt  says  he  has made faster Superfund site cleanups a high priority for the agency.  Pruitt 's task force on the issue is led by Albert "Kell" Kelly  a former Oklahoma banker with no experience as an environmental regulator.
AP reported in August that  Pruitt  hired Kelly as a senior adviser at EPA after federal financial regulators cited Kelly for unspecified violations while serving as the top executive at a community bank in Oklahoma. Kelly previously served as chairman of Tulsa-based SpiritBank  which provided a $6.8 million financing when  Pruitt  and  his  business partners purchased Oklahoma City's minor league baseball team in 2003.
The testimony by EPA Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator Barry Breen before a House oversight subcommittee conflicts with the agency's policy positions under President Donald Trump  who has called climate change a hoax. Breen's boss  EPA Administrator  [TGT]   is an ardent fossil fuel promoter who questions the validity of mainstream climate science.
Under the Obama administration  EPA issued a robust plan for prioritizing cleanup and protection of toxic sites located in flood zones and areas vulnerable to sea level rise. However  a Superfund Task Force appointed by  Pruitt  last year issued a 34-page list of recommendations that makes no mention of climate change  flooding risks from stronger storms or rising seas.
EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox did not respond to questions Thursday about whether  Pruitt  agreed with Breen's testimony or precisely what the agency is currently doing to address to risks posed to Superfund sites by climate change.
 Pruitt  says  he  has made faster Superfund site cleanups a high priority for the agency.  Pruitt 's task force on the issue is led by Albert "Kell" Kelly  a former Oklahoma banker with no experience as an environmental regulator.
AP reported in August that  Pruitt  hired Kelly as a senior adviser at EPA after federal financial regulators cited Kelly for unspecified violations while serving as the top executive at a community bank in Oklahoma. Kelly previously served as chairman of Tulsa-based SpiritBank  which provided a $6.8 million financing when  Pruitt  and  his  business partners purchased Oklahoma City's minor league baseball team in 2003.