EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt Hugh Hewitt Show

[Valin]

Hugh Hewitt Show

Hugh Hewitt

May 11 2017

 

Audio

 

Transcript

 

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HH: You know, at some risk to my ratings, I want to talk about CERCLA and Superfund, because it does not matter to anyone who doesn’t live near or work near one of these sites. But the Superfund scandal is that we’re still talking about it after all these years. And I am not now, nor have I ever been a CERCLA lawyer. I know my NEPA and I know my ESA and my Clean Air Act, but I don’t do CERCLA, because it’s so doggone complicated. Can you explain what it is and what your agenda for the EPA is regarding these toxic waste sites and these poison sites around the country?

SP: Yeah, some of the most important work that we do as an agency, or should be doing, better put, is with respect to the Superfund responsibilities. And as you know, we have about 1,300-plus sites across the country. You know, the Port of Portland in Oregon, East Chicago in Indiana, Columbia Falls in Montana, Westlake, just outside of St. Louis, I mean, we have areas of our country that are pristine that have buried lead or uranium like in Westlake in St. Louis. And what’s happened over the years is it’s languished. The program has not had the kind of awareness and leadership and attitude of getting these sites cleaned up. We’ve had sites, and we have sites today like the Westlake site that was listed in the early to mid-1990s, thereabouts. Here we are in 2017, and there still has not been a decision, a decision by the EPA on what to do to remove the uranium or cap the uranium that’s on site there. That’s not clean up. That’s just a decision. You know, and so that’s just, that’s very unfortunate and wrong for the people of that area, because the parameters…

HH: How can that happen? How can that actually happen that it goes 20 years without a decision on what to do, much less do it?

SP: It’s just poor leadership. It’s poor focus. I mean, that’s what really strikes me, Hugh, when you look at the past administration’s environmental record. I mean, the past administration is viewed as the environmental savior. But when you look at air attainment in this country, we’re at 40% non-attainment right now on ozone. About 140 million people live in non-attainment areas for air quality, under air quality programs. Superfund sites, we have more today than when President Obama came into office. Water infrastructure, you had Flint and you had Gold King. And so what’s, and the regulations that they issued on carbon, they failed twice. They struck out twice. So when you look at their record, what exactly did they accomplish for the environment that folks are so excited about? You know, we’re coming in trying to focus on a back to basics agenda to say look, it’s unacceptable for the Westlake facility in St. Louis, Missouri to languish on a national priority list for 20-plus years. It’s time for leadership. It’s time for leadership in East Chicago, you know, action to be taken. So look, we have tremendous opportunity to do very good things for the environment. And all the people want to focus on here are the things that you mentioned, which is you know, doing our job to make sure that the science advisory board, and all those boards that we have, actually have geographical representation and informed opinions so we can do rulemaking properly.

 

 

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