Water Contamination Study Blocked by Pruitt to be Released Following Senate Committee Decision

Following the release of a spending bill by the Senate Appropriations Committee on June 14, 2018, it appears that the committee will require the release of a scientific study that was purportedly buried by the Trump administration.

The study dealt mainly with water quality, specifically proposing safe levels for fluorinated chemicals, also known as PFAs, in drinking water that would be nearly 10 times lower than the current standards implemented by the U.S. EPA.

The spending bill directly demands the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to release the study within two weeks of the spending bill becoming law. This development follows the initial report made by Politico, which obtained internal emails under the Freedom of Information Act.

The emails involved top aides to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, members of the Department of Defense and White House officials. Said parties feared a potential “public relations nightmare” may have ensued had the study been officially published.

“Scott Pruitt and the White House will do anything to hide information from the public on any number of issues, including the poisoned drinking water of 100 million Americans,” said EWG Senior Vice President for Government Affairs Scott Faber. “But lawmakers from both sides of the aisle understand full well how important clean drinking water is for their constituents and all Americans.”