AS HURRICANE FLORENCE MOVES IN, DEMOCRATS ARE HOLDING UP TRUMP’S PICK TO HEAD EPA’S EMERGENCY RESPONSE DIVISION

• Senate Democrats are holding up the confirmation of EPA’s top emergency response official.
• Trump nominated Peter Wright for the position in March, but he hasn’t gotten a floor vote yet.
• Hurricane Florence could flood toxic and hazardous waste sites in the Carolinas.

Senate Democrats are holding up the confirmation vote for President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) emergency management division.

Trump nominated former Dow Chemical attorney Peter Wright to head EPA’s Office of Land and Emergency Management, which responds to emergency situations, including chemical spills and hurricanes. Hurricane Florence is hitting the Carolinas and is expected to make landfall Thursday night.

Hurricane Florence is expected to dump up to two feet of rain over swaths of North Carolina and South Carolina, and officials have warned residents of “catastrophic flash flooding” amid the downpour.

Flooding could damage hazardous and toxic waste sites in the Florence’s path. Many pig farms, coal ash disposal sites and several Superfund sites could be impacted by torrential rain. EPA officials are monitoring the situation.

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