EPA accused at hearing of doctoring video from Gold King Mine spill
By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times - Wednesday, September 9, 2015
The Environmental Protection Agency was accused Wednesday of doctoring footage from the Gold King Mine spill, removing the audio of a worker saying, “What do we do now?”
During a House committee hearing on the accident, Rep. Bill Johnson, Ohio Republican, showed what he said was an original on-site video taken the day of the Aug. 5 spill, which includes the audio, and then the same video posted on the EPA’s website that beeps out the audio.
“The last few seconds of the audio has been removed to prevent the viewers from hearing the team on the ground saying, ‘What do we do now?’” said Mr. Johnson during the House Science, Space, and Technology hearing.
He quizzed Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator of the EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, about the apparent removal of the audio.
The EPA posted a disclaimer on its website saying that profanity from its videos had been removed and license plates blurred, but that otherwise the agency “did not edit the videos.”
“So you said you had no reason to believe that the EPA’s website had been altered. I’ve just given you reason because the evidence is there,” Mr. Johnson said. “The before video and the one that you posted on the website. Why did the EPA edit out the audio of the team on the ground saying, ‘What do we do now?”
Mr. Stanislaus said he did not know why the videos would have been edited, prompting Mr. Johnson to ask, “After seeing both videos, do you think EPA’s website is misleading to the American public?”
Mr. Stanislaus said, “I can’t tell at this moment,” prompting Mr. Johnson to retort, “What do you mean you can’t tell? You just saw two videos, one that had it, one that didn’t, one that was clear and open, one that was posted by the EPA. How can you not tell?”
The hearing centered on the EPA’s accidental uncorking of 3 million gallons of orange wastewater from the Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colorado, which spread into the Animas and San Juan rivers.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/sep/9/epa-accused-hearing-doctoring-video-mine-spill/
