"In a highly unusual move, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler is calling on the agency's inspector general to scrap a new report that faults a lack of outreach to communities potentially exposed to a cancer-causing chemical.

"The tone and substance of this report indicates a disconnect," Wheeler said in a news release yesterday evening. "Most surprising," he added, is that the IG's office provided no indication in a final meeting on the report "that there would be any unresolved issues" with EPA's response.

Wheeler said, "As a result, we are formally requesting the EPA I.G. rescind the report so it can be appropriately updated." Asked for more detail on what Wheeler was seeking, EPA spokeswoman Andrea Woods said in an email this evening that he wants the inspector general "to pull back the entire report and come back to the table for further discussions."

Earlier however, Inspector General Sean O'Donnell, who has been on the job for barely two months, signaled through a spokesman that he has no plans to do so."

Sean Reilly reports for Greenwire April 1, 2020. [2]