EPA denies regional chief used private email for official business

The lawmakers said in a Tuesday letter to Martin that they were concerned he had communicated with an Environmental Defense Fund attorney through an Apple email account.

Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Vitter, the top Republican on the Senate environment committee, asked for more correspondence from that account. They contended Martin might be using the account to skirt federal records laws.

EPA said that it already went to great lengths to satisfy the lawmakers’ original missive.

“In producing these documents, the EPA and the Regional Administrator have gone beyond any legal requirements in our efforts to ensure full transparency,” the agency said.

Martin oversees EPA operations in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and 27 tribal areas.

Martin’s jurisdiction is of interest to Issa and Vitter because it includes Pavillion, Wyo., the site of a controversial EPA study on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

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