Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly pressed the Environmental Protection Agency chief about a copper smelter emitting lead near the town of Miami, east of Phoenix.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin took questions from a Senate committee as he presented budget proposals Wednesday.
Kelly asked Zeldin why the EPA granted the mining company Freeport-McMoRan a waiver, saying it didn’t have to install scrubbers on the smelter that would reduce harmful emissions.
Kelly said a school is about a mile away.
"It's $60 million to a company that made $2.7 billion, and I'm not saying you specifically, I'm saying this administration, the White House, put the profits of that company over the health of those children," Kelly said.
Zeldin said the waiver decision was out of his hands and granted by President Donald Trump.
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A new audit finds the state Department of Corrections may have unlawfully spent more than $50 million from an opioid settlement. -
The city of Phoenix has launched a multilingual platform where residents can report concerns or incidents related to federal law enforcement activity within the city. The Federal Enforcement Complaint Reporting Portal is available at the Community Transparency Initiative webpage. -
State auditors identified a litany of issues with Arizona’s $1 billion school voucher program that they say could put public dollars at risk. -
The Pima County Board of Supervisors have decided not to remove Sheriff Chris Nanos over allegations he committed perjury, as well as his handling of personnel matters and financial records. -
U.S. Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego called on his fellow lawmakers to reform the nation’s immigration laws to protect long-time undocumented residents who were brought to the country as children.
