Lizzie Fletcher Presses EPA Head Lee Zeldin On Relocation Of EPA Region 6 Lab Out Of Houston

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During a House Energy Committee hearing last week, Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX) spoke about the relocation of an EPA laboratory from Houston to Oklahoma.

Transcript

00:00Texas, Ms. Fletcher, for her three minutes.

00:02Thank you so much, Chairman Griffith, Ranking Member Tonko, and Administrator Zeldin.

00:07And thank you for extending the time to hear from all of us who are waving on.

00:12With the limited time, I do want to raise an issue for you, Administrator.

00:18I represent the energy capital of the world in Houston,

00:21and our region is home to the largest petrochemical complex in the United States,

00:27the second largest in the world.

00:28And we have the benefit of having the EPA's Region 6 lab located in Houston.

00:33This has been a particularly important issue for us in the Houston region.

00:39As I'm sure you know, we are right there on the Gulf

00:42and subject to extreme weather events with too much frequency.

00:47And so the Region 6 lab plays a critical role in helping us during these disasters.

00:53We had a hurricane last summer.

00:54We've had just record hurricanes and flooding over the last decade.

00:59In 2019, EPA announced that it was going to close the Region 6 lab in Houston and move the lab

01:05and all the employees to Ada, Oklahoma.

01:08I believe you're familiar with that facility and testified about it last week in appropriations.

01:11But I've been fighting this move ever since I got here, ever since the announcement,

01:16because it's bad for our region to have to send those samples of air and water in these potentially in disasters,

01:24but all the time as we experience these things in our region.

01:28It's also bad for EPA.

01:29I think the studies show that you'll lose a lot of really talented, experienced professionals

01:34who don't want to move from Houston to Ada, Oklahoma.

01:38And so I think those are huge challenges both for our region and for the agency.

01:43I've gotten several responses over the years that people agree that we need to keep a Region 6 lab in Houston,

01:49and EPA leaders have confirmed multiple times that there will be a Region 6 lab presence in Houston.

01:57So can you confirm for me today that we can work together to make sure that EPA will keep a Region 6 lab in the Houston region?

02:06I can tell you that at no point since I was confirmed have I had any conversation with anyone

02:12about closing the Region 6 lab in Houston.

02:17It hasn't been broached to me.

02:19I'm not aware of conversations going on at the agency on the topic.

02:24Happy to be in touch with you, work with you.

02:27And I'll look into it and let you know if anyone else has had any conversations that haven't been brought up to me.

02:33Well, and I can tell you it's being done pursuant to the 2015 law,

02:39the federal asset sales transfer from, I guess, 2017.

02:43And so that's the idea of moving folks to Ada.

02:46It's critically important that we keep this lab in Houston, both for the agency and for our region.

02:53So I appreciate your willingness to engage on this.

02:56Many people have agreed at the agency that it is a problem that we need to keep this lab in Houston.

03:02And, of course, we want to make sure that we keep a qualified and talented workforce there, too.

03:07So I appreciate the opportunity to raise this and to work with you on this to ensure that we keep this lab in Houston.

03:11I'll look into it as soon as the hearing is over and we'll get back in touch.

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