Environmental groups demand Polis remove Colorado Air Pollution Control director, call for independent investigation
A whistleblower complaint filed Tuesday accused state air regulators of illegally approving permits, telling staff to falsify records
Colorado Sun
A Colorado environmental coalition Thursday demanded that Gov. Jared Polis remove the director of the state Air Pollution Control Division, who is called out in a whistleblower complaint alleging the state endangers public health by unlawfully approving permits to pollute the air.
The coalition also asked the state attorney general’s office to launch its own investigation into allegations the state has speeded permits “at all costs” and may have falsified data in the process.
The staff whistleblowers’ detailed complaint to the Environmental Protection Agency Office of the Inspector General is just the latest evidence that the state Department of Public Health and Environment and its Air Pollution Control Division flout the law, allowing industry to ruin Colorado’s air and harm public health, the groups said.
“This is our Flint, Michigan,” said Ean Tafoya, co-chair of the Colorado Latino Forum, who was joined at a news conference by WildEarth Guardians, 350 Colorado and a handful of other activist organizations.
“Stop putting polluters over people,” 350 Colorado director Micah Parkin said.
To read the rest of the Colorado Sun article, click here.
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