Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Post
September 18, 2008
Pg. 19
In The Loop: On The Hill
By Mary Ann Akers and Paul Kane
Rep. John Dingell, (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, fired off an angry letter to EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson this week over the Pentagon's refusal to clean up three military bases that are on the Superfund list of the most polluted places in the country.
Citing "imminent and substantial endangerment" to public health and the environment, EPA officials issued final orders to the Pentagon to clean up Fort Meade in Maryland, McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey and Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida.
But the Defense Department is arguing it can clean up its own mess and doesn't need oversight by the EPA. That's a novel interpretation of the Superfund law, which gives the EPA administrator final say over the design, scope and schedule of remediation of Superfund sites.
Dingell first wrote to Johnson in June to ask what the EPA was going to do to resolve the conflict and launch the cleanups. Nearly three months later, Dingell is still waiting by his mailbox for Johnson's reply. On Tuesday, the powerful chairman fired off another letter to Johnson.
"Should the Committee assume from your failure to respond to this request that no actions have been taken by you to ensure compliance?" Dingell wrote.
An EPA spokesman said his agency is reviewing the letter "and will respond in an appropriate manner."
Staff writer Lyndsey Layton contributed to this column.
September 18, 2008
Pg. 19
In The Loop: On The Hill
By Mary Ann Akers and Paul Kane
Rep. John Dingell, (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, fired off an angry letter to EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson this week over the Pentagon's refusal to clean up three military bases that are on the Superfund list of the most polluted places in the country.
Citing "imminent and substantial endangerment" to public health and the environment, EPA officials issued final orders to the Pentagon to clean up Fort Meade in Maryland, McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey and Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida.
But the Defense Department is arguing it can clean up its own mess and doesn't need oversight by the EPA. That's a novel interpretation of the Superfund law, which gives the EPA administrator final say over the design, scope and schedule of remediation of Superfund sites.
Dingell first wrote to Johnson in June to ask what the EPA was going to do to resolve the conflict and launch the cleanups. Nearly three months later, Dingell is still waiting by his mailbox for Johnson's reply. On Tuesday, the powerful chairman fired off another letter to Johnson.
"Should the Committee assume from your failure to respond to this request that no actions have been taken by you to ensure compliance?" Dingell wrote.
An EPA spokesman said his agency is reviewing the letter "and will respond in an appropriate manner."
Staff writer Lyndsey Layton contributed to this column.