Tuesday, December 29, 2015

EPA sends 185 Americans to jail while not disciplining anyone for toxic mine spill

The Environmental Protection Agency opened 213 criminal cases last year, resulting in the conviction of 185 Americans and jail terms averaging 8 months plus fines.  Violations ranged from fraud to illegally removing asbestos.
But the EPA has fired no one, nor even disciplined any of its employees for the massive toxic spill at a gold mine in Colorado last summer.
Daily Caller:
EPA enforcement data for 2015 shows the agency opened 213 environmental cases which resulted in 185 people convicted and sentenced to 129 years in prison. EPA has been opening fewer cases in recent years to focus more on “high impact” cases.
“The focus on high impact more complex cases results in fewer investigations overall,” EPA notes in its presentation showing agency enforcement activities for the year. EPA says its criminal enforcement focuses “on complex cases that involve a serious threat to human health and the environment or that undermine program integrity.”
Every year, EPA agents help put dozens of Americans in prison for breaking U.S. environmental laws. Environmental crimes range from spilling coal ash into public waterways, to pretending to produce biofuels, to illegally cleaning up asbestos in buildings.

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