According to an Associated Press report released today, rollbacks on anti-pollution rules and waste have likely already resulted in countless deaths tied to heart, lung disease, and premature births.
“Thousands of oil and gas operations, government facilities and other sites won permission to stop monitoring for hazardous emissions or otherwise bypass rules intended to protect health and the environment because of the coronavirus outbreak,” the AP reported. “The result: approval for less environmental monitoring at some Texas refineries and at an army depot dismantling warheads armed with nerve gas in Kentucky, manure piling up and the mass disposal of livestock carcasses at farms in Iowa and Minnesota, and other risks to communities as governments eased enforcement over smokestacks, medical waste shipments, sewage plants, oilfields and chemical plants.”
The Trump administration caved to pressure from the oil and gas industry, the outlet notes, writing that industry leaders “said lockdowns and social distancing during the pandemic made it difficult to comply with anti-pollution rules.”
The AP conducted a two-month investigation that found the Trump administration granted more than 3,000 waivers, and that the majority of these requests cited coronavirus: “Almost all those requesting waivers told regulators they did so to minimize risks for workers and the public during a pandemic — although a handful reported they were trying to cut costs.”
“The harm from this policy is already done,” said Cynthia Giles, the Environmental Protection Agency’s former assistant administrator under the Obama administration.
The EPA responded to the AP, saying it will end coronavirus “enforcement clemency” by the end of this month.
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