New Report on Radioactive Tap Water Renews Concerns About Trump Nominee for Top Environmental Role

A new five-year investigation revealing that more than 170 million Americans were drinking water contaminated with radioactive elements is also renewing concerns about President Donald Trump’s pick for a top environmental position in his administration—Kathleen Hartnett White, who ran Texas’ environmental agency while it was falsifying reports of radiation levels in tap water.

White chaired the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) from 2003 to 2007, and admitted to local reporters in 2011 that the agency intentionally lowered the radiation level reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) because, “We did not believe the science of health effects justified EPA setting the standard where they did.” 

She is now a fellow at Texas Public Policy Foundation—a conservative think tank that’s funded by the Koch Brothers and other major corporate donors—but if Trump gets his way, White will head the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), which is charged with making sure federal environmental agencies are following the law.

Environmental groups have vehemently opposed White’s nomination, with the Union of Concerned Scientists warning there’s “strong evidence” that she “favors private over personal interests,” noting that when White ran TCEQ, she “often put industry preferences ahead of public health—pushing for a lax ozone standard, approving pollution-intensive coal plants, and lowballing fines for companies that violate state laws.”

In December, the Senate Enivornment and Public Works Committee declined to approve her, and Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) released a statement explaining, “White’s concerning record, unacceptable statements, and shockingly poor performance before the EPW Committee last month have elicited serious concerns on both sides of the aisle and all across the country.” Despite the committee’s decision, the Trump administration resubmitted White’s nomination earlier this week.

“Putting someone in charge of CEQ who deliberately falsified data to get around federal regulations is outrageous, and the fact that her deception left people at serious risk of cancer is even more alarming,” said Scott Farber, vice president of government affairs for the Environmental Working Group (EWG), which conducted the nationwide investigation into radiation levels in drinking water.