"WASHINGTON — An internal watchdog at the Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday it will review whether federal and state officials kept the public appropriately informed last year about potential air quality threats after Hurricane Harvey ravaged southeastern Texas.
The office of EPA Inspector General Arthur Elkins issued notice of the audit, which will scrutinize the agency’s response following several high-profile accidents and spills following the August 2017 storm and the resulting flooding in the Houston metro area.
Jennifer Kaplan, a spokeswoman for Elkins, said the review was initiated internally, and not as a result of a request from Congress or any whistleblower complaints.
As nearby residents complained of noxious smells and burning eyes and throats in the days after the storm, EPA and state officials repeatedly cited government air monitoring results to assure the public that post-Harvey air pollution posed no health threat."
Michael Biesecker reports for the Associated Press August 2, 2018.
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