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Environmental Groups Sue Trump Over Allowing Oil Giants to Dump Waste in Gulf of Mexico

  • "The Trump administration is letting oil companies dump toxic fracking chemicals into the Gulf with no regard for the risks or the law," said Kristen Monsell, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.  | Photo: Reuters

Published 14 February 2018
Opinion

The environmental group says 10 fracking chemicals were being routinely being dumped into ocean waters.

Several environmental groups have sued the Trump administration for allowing oil companies to dump fracking and drilling waste into the waters of Gulf of Mexico, endangering marine species and environment. 

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The Center for Biological Diversity, Gulf Restoration Network, and Louisiana Bucket Brigade are challenging the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA's Clean Water Act, which allows the oil companies to dump hazardous waste in the waters, through the lawsuit filed on Tuesday.

"The Trump administration is letting oil companies dump toxic fracking chemicals into the Gulf with no regard for the risks or the law," said Kristen Monsell, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.

"That’s just unacceptable. The EPA is supposed to protect water quality, not give oil companies free rein to use our oceans as their garbage disposal," he added.

In October, the Trump administration announced plans to auction off over 76 million acres of Gulf of Mexico waters to the oil companies. The lease sale which would include federal waters off the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida could vastly expand drilling and fracking in the Gulf. The move signifies the largest oil sale in the U.S. history and is scheduled to be implemented in March.

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The environmental group estimated ten fracking chemicals, some of which are the most toxic to marine animals, were being routinely being used to kill or harm a broad variety of aquatic species. 

The Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement the U.S. administration's decision puts inhabitants of Gulf of Mexico like the endangered loggerhead sea turtles, as well as whales, sea turtles, and fish which are in grave danger. 

"Dolphins and other species in the Gulf are still suffering the lingering destructive effects of 2010’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill," the Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement.

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