Republican Senators Burr, Tillis oppose Trump’s EPA nominee

(Reuters) – North Carolina Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis said they will not support the Trump administration’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) chemical safety office, media reports said.

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If one more Republican votes against Michael Dourson, he likely wouldn’t be confirmed to the post, the Hill reported on Wednesday. http://bit.ly/2hv1xgN

The Republican Senators raised concerns about the track record of Dourson, a professor at the University of Cincinnati who has worked as a consultant for chemical companies, StarNews reported. http://bit.ly/2jvLPpR

“With his record and our state’s history of contamination at Camp Lejeune as well as the current GenX water issues in Wilmington, I am not confident he is the best choice for our country,” StarNews quoted Senator Burr as saying.

The U.S. Senate environment panel, on Oct. 25, approved Dourson and 3 other nominees to top posts at the EPA, in a 11-10 vote along party lines that was slammed by Democrats.

Dourson, while a consultant, had assessed some chemicals, including PFOA, used to make Teflon non-stick surfaces, to be safe at levels far higher than considered acceptable by the EPA.

Reuters could not reach the Senators for comment outside regular business hours.

(Reporting by Ishita Chigilli Palli in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)