EPA waste official, contractor head to testify at mine spill hearing

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) waste division is among those called on to testify on an August mine spill in Colorado when Congress returns to work next week. 

Mathy Stanislaus, the assistant administrator of Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response at the EPA, and the president of an EPA contractor are scheduled to appear before the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology next Wednesday. 

{mosads}The EPA had contracted with Environmental Restoration LLC to inspect an abandoned gold mine, when the contractors released 3 million gallons of toxic waste into Colorado’s Animas River on Aug. 5. The company’s president, Dennis Greaney, is also slated to testify before the Science Committee.

The committee had originally requested EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy testify, but she isn’t on the agenda. 

“After spilling millions of gallons of toxic chemicals into the Animas River, the EPA has an obligation to be forthcoming about what went wrong and potential long-term impacts on local communities,” Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said in a statement. 

“The Science Committee will hear from the EPA about steps it is taking to repair the damage and to prevent this from ever occurring again.”

The committee will be the first congressional panel to investigate the Aug. 5 spill. Others, including the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and the Natural Resources and Government Oversight panels in the House, have also scheduled hearings. 

On Monday, the chairs of the Natural Resources and Oversight Committees sent McCarthy a list of 11 documents they want to see before their Sept. 17 hearing on the matter. 

Smith has hammered the EPA for what he’s called a delayed response to his inquires about the spill. The EPA has said it’s working to release information about the incident even as it conducts its own investigation into it.