A group of top Republicans are demanding answers from the administration on why the Justice Department will not pursue a case against an unnamed Environmental Protection Agency employee, after the agency’s own inspector general found evidence of criminal wrongdoing in last year’s massive mine spill in Colorado that the EPA caused.
“By not taking up the case, the Department of Justice looks like it is going easy on its colleagues in EPA,” a letter sent Wednesday afternoon by three GOP committee heads to Attorney General Loretta Lynch read. “Its lack of action on these charges give the appearance of hypocrisy, and seem to indicate that there is one set of rules for private citizens and another for the federal government.”
The mine blowout at the abandoned Gold King Mine in Silverton, Colo., caused 3 million gallons of toxic wastewater to spill into the waterways of three states, and the agency is currently being taken to court for damages caused by the spill.
Republicans have sought accountability from the EPA for over a year, pressing the agency to hold someone at fault for the massive mine blowout, especially after congressional probes found the agency to be guilty of negligence.
The EPA inspector announced Wednesday that it found evidence an unnamed employee may have violated the Clean Water Act and given false statements. But spokesman Jeff Ladga said the Justice Department will not pursue the case. Instead, the case will be sent to the agency’s leaders.
“The EPA is required to report to the Office of Inspector General any administrative action taken as a result of the Report On Investigation,” according to a statement issued by EPA Office of Inspector General spokesman Ladga.
This is unacceptable for the Republicans that signed the letter to Lynch. They want a meeting with Lynch to go over the details of why the Justice Department will not be pursuing the case.
House Natural Resources Committee chief Rob Bishop, R-Utah, joined with House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and oversight subcommittee chairwoman Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., in sending the letter Wednesday afternoon.
The lawmakers added that the “EPA disaster deserves the same level of accountability to which private citizens are held.”
“Furthermore, research conducted by Oversight Committee staff indicates a large gap between the number of criminal referrals from inspectors general across the federal government and the number of prosecutions taken up by the Department,” the GOP committee chiefs wrote.
They want a meeting with Lynch to go over why they department will not be taking up the inspector’s recommendation of criminal charges. They request the meeting to occur no later than Oct. 26.
