September 20, 2017
By Timothy Cama –
The Environmental Protection Agency is pulling EPA law enforcement officers away from other duties to protect Administrator Scott Pruitt, according to a new report.
Officers from outside Washington have had to serve two-week stints on Pruitt’s security detail since he started at the EPA in February, taking them away from environmental crime responsibilities, The Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing current and former employees.
Unlike his predecessors, Pruitt has around-the-clock security that requires of team of up to 18 officers, the Post reported.
The EPA spent more than $800,000 in a three-month period on Pruitt’s security earlier this year, and has requested more funding for the operations. Officials have also sought an exception to the administration-wide hiring freeze for Pruitt’s detail.
The mission of the Environmental Protection Agency is “to protect human health and the environment.” Disgraced EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt tried his best to undermine this vital mission by choosing to slash critical health protections and let corporate polluters off the hook. Now that Pruitt’s been booted, we need an EPA administrator dedicated to undoing his toxic agenda and restoring the agency to its core mission. Progress is possible and necessary – but another corporate crony or climate skeptic will not get us there.
Scott Pruitt is gone, but the fight is just beginning. We need an EPA administrator who puts our health and environment first, period. Any alternative is unacceptable.
