Nominee for EPA chemical safety job opts to withdraw

President Donald Trump’s nominee to oversee the Environmental Protection Agency’s chemical safety division on Wednesday withdrew his name from consideration for the post in the face of mounting opposition.

The nominee, Michael Dourson, a longtime researcher whose studies often bolstered safety claims by manufacturers of pesticides, flame retardants and other products under federal scrutiny as possible public health hazards, had been working as an adviser to the agency while awaiting confirmation.

But the Senate never scheduled a confirmation vote for Dourson, who resigned from his job at the University of Cincinnati in October. And in recent weeks, two Republican senators said they would not support him.

Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, had pushed his colleagues to reject Dourson. He said Wednesday that his objections were not partisan.

“Dr. Dourson, an individual who has spent most of his career promoting less protective chemical safety standards, had no business overseeing our nation’s chemical safety laws,” Carper said in a statement.

The decision was welcomed by environmental and public health advocates.

Dourson declined to respond to a request for comment.

His withdrawal followed the release of several hundreds of pages of his correspondence with chemical industry officials while he was being considered for the EPA job. The New York Times obtained the emails from Greenpeace, which received them in response to a Freedom of Information request to the University of Cincinnati.

The emails detail an unusually close relationship with the American Chemistry Council and with individual companies whose products are scheduled for priority review by the EPA.