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Trump's EPA nominee walked back pollution lawsuit after recieving thousands from polluters

Gage Skidmore
/
Flickr Creative Commons

Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency appears to have shelved a pollution lawsuit after receiving large cash amounts from the companies doing the polluting.

As StateImpact Okahoma reports,Scott Pruitt, who is currently the attorney general of Oklahoma, accepted tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions linked to the poultry industry. After accepting the money, Pruitt put the brakes on a lawsuit to clean up rivers polluted by chicken manure.

According to campaign and court records, Pruitt’s 2010 campaign received, $40,000 from executives of poultry companies and lawyers of firms representing those companies. After receiving the funds, Pruitt sat on a 2005 lawsuit against Tyson Foods and other poultry companies, which has yet to be ruled on twelve years after the initial filing.

Ken Cook, president of the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, said “Scott Pruitt’s antipathy for holding polluters accountable in his own state is a bad sign for things to come across America if he’s given the reins at the EPA.” Pruitt declined requests for comment.