EPA’s ‘Kell’ Kelly visits — and appears to win over local skeptics
Who is EPA Administrator
Married with four children and six grandchildren, Kelly is a lawyer and former banker. But he's a banker with a past -- and he represents Pruitt, who is facing mounting ethics accusations in
Despite all that, many Superfund critics in both
Long-time Butte Superfund watchdog
The two towns' Superfund sites comprise the largest Superfund complex in the nation.
Gratitude for Kelly's attention, which appears to imply Pruitt's, seems to have tempered even some of the
Meanwhile, just as Pruitt's trust with the American public appears to be significantly eroding, his appointee
Daily, an former Democratic legislator, told the Standard Friday he's "not a Pruitt guy" but believes both Kelly and Benevento are "sincere."
"I believe they care and they want to make things better," Daily said.
Conservative community leader
Ringsak calls Benevento "truly heartfelt" and only had good things to say about Kelly.
"I think he's sincere," Ringsak said. "He has the administration's ear. There's an extremely strong personal connection there. When you're talking to Kelly, you're talking to Pruitt."
The word "sincere" came up a lot in Kelly's wake.
While community activist Sister
Pruitt under fire
Pruitt has a mere 29-percent approval rating due to his growing list of alleged ethics violations, according to a poll released Thursday by the left-leaning Public Policy Polling.
Kelly is also no stranger to ethical issues.
Voluble, direct, and engaging in his manner, Kelly told The
"I get this tagline, 'banker banned for life,'" he said.
He addressed his problems with the
The
The EPA has also said Kelly disclosed the trouble he was in to the agency before he came on board.
According to the consent decree between Kelly and the
Kelly's bank,
"There are no questionable loans by my bank to the administrator. If you go back and look at any loans to the administrator, without going into his privacy, they were very solid," Kelly told The
His problem with the
"My problem with the
Kelly ran
"I ran out of money to oppose it (the
Why the
As for Pruitt, according to last week's poll, the many allegations of ethics violations against him -- from his first-class airline travel to his taxpayer-funded security detail -- have raised "very serious concerns" with 49 percent of those polled.
Kelly called the allegations against Pruitt "insulting and inane."
"It's like putting your life under a microscope," he said. "We were accused of a
According to various news sources, the EPA made requests under Pruitt's leadership for a
The requests were denied.
Also controversial were raises the EPA gave to two staffers even after the
Kelly, who makes
Jackson told media earlier this week that he was to blame for the raises. But also last week, national media outlets reported that an internal email shows Pruitt did have prior knowledge of the questionable raises, which he had denied.
Critics have also questioned Pruitt's air travel, including EPA staff allegedly working to find ways to fly Pruitt home to
Apparently referring to the
Trump has so far maintained support for Pruitt. More than any of Trump's other cabinet members, Pruitt is viewed by conservatives as having followed through on campaign promises by working to reduce regulation at the agency.
But the Inspector General is investigating the raises as well as some of Pruitt's other alleged violations.
"A number of things (in the press about Pruitt) are not accurate," Kelly insisted. He suggested sources in opposition are using the press to spread "negativity" about his old friend.
Kelly shrugged off the frequent criticism that Pruitt is too friendly with big oil.
"I'm sure coming from
Resources
Since Benevento took his place as the top dog of the region six months ago, he has been delivering much welcome news to
Benevento's many fans in
But most of all, he has delivered. With remarkable swiftness, Benevento has done what no one else within the EPA has been able to do before him: get an agreement with responsible party
Benevento announced during last week's visit that parts of
Benevento told
Even
"This ironic notion of 'trust us' from the government has always been treated cynically by me," Ray said Friday. "Who will guard us from the guardians? But there seems to be a new atmosphere of new cooperation and openness."
Longtime Anaconda government critic
But what Benevento hasn't yet brought -- or talked about -- are resources.
After the Trump administration proposed slashing the
Kelly said the EPA will spend the restored 30 percent -- "And if you give me another 30 percent, I'll spend that too."
But whether additional resources will be allocated to
One good sign: Pruitt himself is still planning on visiting
When The
"Trust us on what we're doing. Trust us on what you see," he said.
"I don't not work for the administration," Benevento said. "I work for the administration. We are busting it to try and eliminate that image (of collusion between
"This isn't coming because I'm a great guy. It's because I'm getting direction from the top. I'm being told to rebuild trust."
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