With EPA Chief Gina McCarthy ignoring a Senate subpoena to attend a hearing in Phoenix last week on the Animas River whoopsydoodle, U.S. Sen. John McCain was left to his own devices to determine what should be done.
And we applaud his decision.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that a DOJ criminal investigation is merited and must now occur. EPA officials said it’s not clear that additional testing could have prevented the incident, but they acknowledged they notified tribal officials too late,” McCain said.
The EPA promised to get to the bottom of what happened last August, then pawned off the investigation to the Interior Department, which concluded that they weren’t supposed to actually investigate who was at fault, so they didn’t.
An investigation by the Justice Department is exactly want is needed, but we’re not holding our breath that one would actually occur in an Obama administration.
The Democratic administration also promised to reimburse those affected, but since this doesn’t qualify as government waste they can’t bear to part with taxpayer dollars.
From Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye’s testimony:
“They need to compensate our farmers because they are suffering,” he said. “We will be living with this for the next 20-plus years.”
La Platta is seeking millions in damages, but have received less than $10,000. The only promise the EPA appears willing to keep, is their pledge to list the Gold King Mine as a Superfund.