Energy & Environment

Trump EPA official indicted in Alabama

An Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official in the Trump administration was indicted Tuesday on charges stemming from a previous job.

Trey Glenn, the regional director for EPA’s southeast region, helped Birmingham, Ala., law firm Balch & Bingham between 2014 and 2017 to fight potential EPA actions to clean up contaminated sites in north Birmingham and Tarrant on behalf of Drummond Co., which could be responsible for the cleanups.

The Alabama Ethics Commission, which took the lead on the case, said Tuesday in a statement that a grand jury had indicted Glenn and former Alabama Environmental Management Commissioner Scott Phillips last week for their roles in the controversial efforts.

{mosads}They were charged with multiple alleged violations of state ethics laws, including soliciting a thing of value from a principal, lobbyist or subordinate and receiving money in addition to that received in one’s official capacity.

Acting EPA chief Andrew Wheeler declined to comment on the case Tuesday, saying he hadn’t spoken with Glenn about it.

“I just learned about it this afternoon. I haven’t had a chance to look into the matter or talk to him personally yet,” Wheeler said at an EPA event.

The EPA’s southeast regional office did not return requests for comment. 

The two men worked for Southeast Engineering & Consulting on the Drummond case, and Phillips was serving on the environmental commission.

A federal jury earlier this year convicted Balch partner Joel Gilbert and Drummond vice president David Roberson for bribing an Alabama state lawmaker as part of the effort to stop the EPA cleanup effort, AL.com reported. Glenn and Phillips were both called as witnesses in that trial, and evidence showed they were working closely with Balch on the effort to stop the cleanups.

Then-EPA chief Scott Pruitt named Glenn to lead the EPA’s southeast region, based in Atlanta, in August 2017, after the alleged incidents that are the subject of the indictment.

Updated at 4:55 p.m.