Pruitt's EPA taps former chemical industry attorney to head Superfund group

EPA replaces Scott Pruitt's disgraced banker from running the Superfund program with the more conventional pick of a former attorney for the chemical industry ...........


EPA taps former chemical industry attorney to head Superfund group

https://www.axios.com/epa-taps-former-chemical-industry-attorney-to-head-superfund-task-force-52ef0d6d-70b4-45a4-9e9f-2eae9af545e0.html

The Environmental Protection Agency’s task force that oversees the cleanup of some of the country's most contaminated sites, will be led by a former lawyer for a plastics and chemicals company, the AP reports.

Why it matters: Steven Cook, the new chair of the Superfund Task Force, has reportedly worked more than 20 years as a corporate counsel for LyondellBasell Industries — one of the country’s largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies that the EPA has suspected of polluting some three dozen sites.


The details: The task force is overseeing the cleanups of more than 1,300 toxic sites. The AP reports that Cook signed a memo in April recusing himself from regulatory matters involving LyondellBasell. But he’s allowed to participate in matters involving the company if the decision would also affect five or more other companies.


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