Another EPA official leaves amid turmoil

WASHINGTON — A third top Environmental Protection Agency official is leaving the agency amid intensifying scrutiny of Administrator Scott Pruitt’s travel, spending and condo rental, said two people familiar with the move.

Associate Administrator Liz Bowman, the top public affairs official at the EPA, is set to handle communications for Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said the people, who asked not to be

named discussing personnel matters before a formal announcement.

Bowman’s departure follows two others just this week: the exit of Albert “Kell” Kelly, the top EPA adviser on Superfund cleanups, and former Secret Service agent Pasquale “Nino” Perrotta, who led Pruitt’s security detail. Longtime Pruitt ally Samantha Dravis announced her resignation last month.

The exodus comes amid steep criticism of Pruitt — including calls by at least 170

Democrats and four Republicans for his ouster. There are at least 10 formal investigations into Pruitt, including over his rental of Capitol Hill bedroom from a lobbyist for $50 a night under unusually generous terms, frequent taxpayer-funded travel to his home state of Oklahoma, questionable spending decisions at the EPA and raises for two top aides over White House objections.

As the associate administrator for public affairs, Bowman has been on the front lines of the EPA’s sometimes rocky relationship with the news media, delivering sharp critiques of reporters covering the agency.

Bowman is one of several political appointees who arrived at the EPA from the American Chemistry Council, a trade group representing Dow Chemical Co., BASF SE and Monsanto Co.