Trump Administration's EPA Slams Associated Press Report About Flooded Toxic Sites
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) called out a journalist by name and slammed a report from the Associated Press about the flooding of toxic waste facilities brought about by Hurricane Harvey.
The agency released a press statement on Sunday, Sep. 3, as their response to "The AP's Misleading Story," referring to the media group's story on toxic waste sites that were flooded in Houston Area in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.
The story was a field report about the effects of the hurricane on the toxic waste sites in the area, also referred to as Superfund sites. The report noted how the Associated Press checked in on seven Superfund sites, both within and just outside Houston, and found them all flooded with water.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The exclusive report also added that the EPA was not able to do an on-site inspection of the Superfund sites at the time of the report, with the agency reportedly saying that these areas had "not been accessible by response personnel," even as the AP field reporters surveyed the condition by vehicle or on foot.
The agency called out AP reporter Michael Biesecker by name, and called his story "incredibly misleading." EPA Associate Administrator Liz Bowman accused the media outlet of selective reporting in their press statement on Sunday.
"Once again, in an attempt to mislead Americans, the Associated Press is cherry-picking facts, as EPA is monitoring Superfund sites around Houston and we have a team of experts on the ground working with our state and local counterparts responding to Hurricane Harvey," Bowman stated.
"Anything to the contrary is yellow journalism," she added. On the other hand, the Associated Press stands by their exclusive reports and the journalists who contributed it, according to CBS News.
The agency has pointed out that an early version of the coverage did not include how the EPA already finished the initial assessment of 41 Superfund sites, a claim that Bisecker's report said came "hours after the AP published its first report."
The EPA found 13 Superfund sites flooded in their survey, while 28 sites were apparently unharmed.
