Mum's the word on high-level 'war on lead' summit

摘要

With fanfare, U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt convened top officials from across therngovernment last week to discuss a coordinated federal effort to combat lead poisoning.rnWhat did they do? Hard to say.rnMultiple EPA staffers who work on lead issues and officials from other agencies whose work isrnrelated to the health risks of the potent neurotoxin say they know little about last Thursday'srnmeeting of the President's Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks tornChildren. And aides who normally attend meetings of the task force say they weren't invited.rn"At this point, I know what you know," an EPA staffer told E&E News. "I'll probably learn morernwhen I read your article."rnPruitt has talked up EPA's efforts to combat lead contamination since telling House lawmakersrnin December that he wants to wage a "war on lead" in 2018.rnThe task force meeting was an extension of that effort, with Pruitt inviting Cabinet officials tornEPA, asking them to come "prepared to consider actions that the federal partners mayrnundertake over the next one to three years to further reduce childhood lead exposures andrneliminate associated health impacts."