Environmental Protection Agency Grants Government Accountability Project Expedited FOIA After Denying Original Request

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

November 3, 2023 

 

Environmental Protection Agency Grants Government Accountability Project Expedited FOIA After Denying Original Request 

 

WASHINGTON – Government Accountability Project filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review their records and results from its testing of dioxin and other chemicals in the soil, air, and water in East Palestine, Ohio following the Norfolk Southern train derailment in February 2023. This request was pushed aside by the EPA until April 2024, putting the residents of East Palestine at risk for increased health complications. However, after filing a second request for expediated results, the general counsel of the agency granted the request, despite denying that there is an imminent threat to the life and safety of the East Palestine residents. 

 

Government Accountability Project CEO and Executive Director, Louis Clark, commented 

“We are pleased that the Environmental Protection Agency has finally recognized the great need that the East Palestine community has for any and all information about what contamination the agency has found, what it has looked for, where it has looked, how it has arrived at its safety-related pronouncements, and with whom it has depended for vital data. We already know from the dozens of residents that we have heard that there is a sharp contrast between what many folks are experiencing and what their government environmental protectors are saying. We applaud this decision to let us have an earlier examination of some of these questions. Now we are hopeful that we will not have to continue to litigate about paying fees for the processing of the people’s documents because we do not have the resources to pay these costs and should not have to do so. At this point though we are grateful for this decision and hopeful that this will be the beginning of a beneficial relationship that will in a timely way help residents make the tough economic and personal decisions that they are now forced to make because the Southern Norfolk railway company visited this catastrophe upon them. We thank the Loevy Loevy law firm for its legal representation and expert guidance.” 

Contact: Andrew Harman, Government Accountability Project Communications Director 

Email: [email protected] 

Phone: 202.926.3304 

 

Government Accountability Project is the nation’s leading whistleblower protection organization. Through litigating whistleblower cases, publicizing concerns and developing legal reforms, Government Accountability Project’s mission is to protect the public interest by promoting government and corporate accountability. Founded in 1977, Government Accountability Project is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. 

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