Letter: House GOP says EPA muddying the waters in toxic spill probe

By John Siciliano, John Siciliano

Published December 20, 2015

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House Republicans are leveling new charges against the Environmental Protection Agency for trying to change the chain of events that led the agency to cause a massive 3 million-gallon spill of toxic sludge in Colorado that sullied the waterways of three states.

A letter from the House Natural Resources Committee sent to the EPA's Office of Inspector General, obtained by the Washington Examiner, spells out problems with a recent addendum the agency made to its own internal investigation that contradicts official investigations by the Department of Interior and the inspector general's office.

"The addendum states that its new narrative is based on 'a followup interview with the two on-scene coordinators (OSCs) most closely associated with the event,'" the 13-page letter from the committee's Republican leadership reads. "However, the circumstances surrounding this interview raise concerns about its timing, appropriateness and potential to affect the [EPA inspector general's] investigation."