Haunting & Hunting the Marco Island Syndicate

October 26, 2017

Mr. Scott Pruitt
USEPA Headquarters
William Jefferson Clinton Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W.
Mail Code: 1101A
Washington, DC 20460

Dear Mr. Pruitt,

On October 16, 2017 in an interview with Neil Cavuto (Fox News[1]), when he asked/stated that “Administrator Pruitt doesn’t want these laws enforced” you responded

“Look, I'm a former attorney general. I led a grand jury. I know what it means to prosecute folks. We have already begun the process to prosecute individuals in many cases across the country …”

Your answer suggests that you are serious in upholding the law, in pursuing violations. Presuming your integrity to put into action what you are publicly claiming, we are respectfully requesting that you prosecute the City of Marco Island, Florida.

From 2006 to 2009, the City of Marco Island (COMI) pulverized asbestos pipe into the air not 1 mile from a school – violating the Clean Air Act. When confronted of this illegal act the COMI buried the asbestos pipe. When also confronted of this illegal act, the COMI then properly disposed of what was left (very little) of the asbestos pipe.

Despite the EPA being aware, in fact witnessing the crimes, no one was prosecuted.

At the same time, the COMI discharged millions of gallons of toxic effluent into Southwest Florida protected waterways, including the Gulf of Mexico – violating the Clean Water Act. As the effluent was being discharged many citizens were being harmed by the noxious effects of hydrogen sulfide gas that was being released by the waste water. What is most disturbing about this fact is that criminal investigators from the EPA were on the island and witnessed this crime.

As noted, both of these crimes were known to the EPA as they were occurring. To this day a website exists documenting these crimes (marcoislandblog.blogspot.com). My Freedom of Information Act suit against the EPA further proves this fact – as the released records from the EPA have all of these crimes well documented.

For both of these crimes, a “settlement” was reached where … nothing happened. The EPA decided on its own to “settle” on terms and conditions that are not in law, not in statutes, on rules that the agency made up on the fly – in essence not doing what by law the EPA was legally obligated to do. 

The EPA applied the very arbitrary political expediency that you decry in the above noted interview:

“That's a subversion of the rule-making process. It's called sue and settle and regulation through litigation. And any agency of the federal government that engages in substantive rule-making through the judicial process is abusing their authority under the statute. And that's what we ended yesterday.”

Therefore, as you have publicly stated, we respectfully demand\ that you, the EPA, enforce the laws as related to the crimes committed by the City of Marco Island.

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[1] http://www.foxnews.com/transcript/2017/10/17/epa-administrator-scott-pruitt-on-rolling-back-regulations.html