WEBVTT 00:02.433 --> 00:04.466 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Like most government agencies, the Environmental Protection Agency has been 00:04.466 --> 00:06.533 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% affected by the shutdown. 00:06.533 --> 00:10.933 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Today, the acting chief of the EPA, Andrew Wheeler, faced a confirmation hearing in the 00:12.366 --> 00:16.100 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Senate on his nomination to be the agency's permanent head. 00:16.100 --> 00:21.100 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Wheeler took over the agency this summer, after Scott Pruitt resigned amid multiple 00:21.700 --> 00:23.666 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% investigations. 00:23.666 --> 00:27.366 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Before he joined the Trump administration, Wheeler lobbied on behalf of coal industry, 00:28.800 --> 00:31.700 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and critics say that creates ethical problems as well. 00:31.700 --> 00:36.700 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% As acting chief, he's delivered on a promise of deregulation that the president campaigned 00:38.566 --> 00:41.966 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% on and is strongly welcomed by many business and farming voices. 00:44.366 --> 00:47.066 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% Wheeler oversaw rollbacks on car fuel standards, mercury emissions standards and federal water 00:49.066 --> 00:51.633 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% rules. 00:51.633 --> 00:55.033 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% He has also downplayed the overwhelming scientific consensus on the threat of climate change. 00:56.466 --> 00:58.866 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Today, Senator Bernie Sanders zeroed in on that. 00:58.866 --> 01:00.866 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% SEN. 01:00.866 --> 01:02.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% BERNIE SANDERS (I), Vermont: Do you agree with the scientific community that climate 01:02.866 --> 01:07.300 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% change is a global crisis that must be addressed in an aggressive way? 01:09.433 --> 01:11.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% ANDREW WHEELER, Acting EPA Administrator: I believe that climate change is a global 01:11.800 --> 01:14.800 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% issue that must be addressed globally. 01:14.800 --> 01:16.400 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% No one country can... 01:16.400 --> 01:17.600 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% SEN. 01:17.600 --> 01:18.866 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% BERNIE SANDERS: That wasn't my question, sir. 01:18.866 --> 01:20.400 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Do you agree with the scientific community? 01:20.400 --> 01:23.800 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% ANDREW WHEELER: I wouldn't call it the greatest crisis, no, sir. 01:23.800 --> 01:27.233 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% I consider it a huge issue that has to be addressed globally. 01:27.233 --> 01:29.233 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% SEN. 01:29.233 --> 01:32.733 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% BERNIE SANDERS: Well, you are -- I found it interesting, Mr. Wheeler. 01:32.733 --> 01:36.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% You are the nominee to be head of the Environmental Protection Agency. 01:36.033 --> 01:41.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% You, just in your opening statement, didn't mention the word climate change. 01:43.000 --> 01:46.166 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: During Wheeler's hearing, the government shutdown came up several times. 01:48.600 --> 01:51.300 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% We talked to two reporters today who specialize in the environment who are focused on that 01:51.300 --> 01:53.433 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% issue. 01:53.433 --> 01:56.733 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Coral Davenport of The New York Times has been covering how inspections of chemical 01:56.733 --> 02:01.166 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% factories and many other industrial sites are not happening right now. 02:01.166 --> 02:05.500 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% CORAL DAVENPORT, The New York Times: Typically, these inspectors, these EPA, engineers and 02:05.500 --> 02:10.500 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% scientists, would be going to places like power plants, oil refineries, chemical facilities, 02:14.033 --> 02:16.066 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% chemical manufacturers. 02:16.066 --> 02:20.000 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% And they would be looking for things like, are these facilities complying with the law? 02:20.000 --> 02:23.266 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% Are they keeping their emission levels in accordance with the law? 02:23.266 --> 02:25.233 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Do they have any broken equipment? 02:25.233 --> 02:29.266 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Do they have hazardous material on site that's supposed to be taken out and dealt with? 02:29.266 --> 02:34.266 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Are they dumping toxic or hazardous chemicals into nearby rivers and streams, which could 02:35.666 --> 02:38.866 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% be much cheaper and easier way of getting rid of things? 02:38.866 --> 02:42.033 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% None of this is being overseen right now. 02:42.033 --> 02:47.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Now, not all of these potential violations are dangerous, but Davenport told 02:48.466 --> 02:50.633 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% us there are far more than the public realizes. 02:50.633 --> 02:55.533 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% CORAL DAVENPORT: I talked to a furloughed EPA worker who oversees these inspections. 02:57.533 --> 03:02.133 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% And she said that every inspection she has ever done, she finds some kind of violation, 03:04.000 --> 03:07.266 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% maybe not an extremely hazardous violation, but always some kind of violation, always 03:07.266 --> 03:09.666 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% something that could be dangerous. 03:09.666 --> 03:14.666 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% So, with the shutdown now going into a few weeks, this is hundreds and hundreds of these 03:16.633 --> 03:21.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% inspections around the country that are not happening, and facility owners that know that, 03:22.866 --> 03:25.333 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% for the foreseeable future, these inspectors will not be on site. 03:25.333 --> 03:29.966 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Coral Davenport also told us that most companies wouldn't seek to take 03:29.966 --> 03:34.233 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% advantage of this gap in inspections, but the risks remain real. 03:34.233 --> 03:38.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% CORAL DAVENPORT: More than 90 percent of industries are pretty good actors. 03:38.200 --> 03:39.466 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% They don't want to break the law. 03:39.466 --> 03:41.166 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% They don't want to be fined. 03:41.166 --> 03:45.600 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% A lot of times, these violations of pollution rules are unintentional. 03:47.600 --> 03:50.600 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% A site might have a piece of equipment that's broken that a company might not know about 03:50.600 --> 03:54.833 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% that could be leaching hazardous material, hazardous waste. 03:54.833 --> 03:59.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And so the inspectors I talk to say, this is putting communities absolutely at risk 04:01.833 --> 04:05.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% of being exposed to potentially toxic, hazardous chemicals or waste from industrial sites. 04:07.100 --> 04:10.266 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: The inspections are not the only concern. 04:10.266 --> 04:15.266 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% Ellen Knickmeyer of the Associated Press has been reporting on the stoppage of longtime 04:16.733 --> 04:20.066 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% work and cleanup at Superfund toxic waste sites nationwide. 04:20.066 --> 04:22.133 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Here's some of what she told us. 04:22.133 --> 04:24.066 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% ®MDNMLLEN KNICKMEYER, Associated Press: There are hundreds of sites around the country 04:24.066 --> 04:27.900 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% that include some of the most contaminated sites in the U.S. 04:27.900 --> 04:30.033 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% They could be old mines. 04:30.033 --> 04:35.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% They could be old factories, places that are contaminated by chemicals or radiation or 04:36.033 --> 04:38.066 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% some other threat. 04:38.066 --> 04:42.166 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Normally, federal workers would be helping with the cleanup of Superfund sites all around 04:42.166 --> 04:43.333 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% the country. 04:43.333 --> 04:45.866 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% And that's not happening with the shutdown. 04:45.866 --> 04:50.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% The people we talked, including former EPA Superfund officials, they said if the shutdown 04:52.333 --> 04:55.100 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% was one or two weeks, it's not that big of a problem. 04:55.100 --> 05:00.166 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% But, as time goes on, and as the risk of some kind of flood or rain or something that causes 05:02.133 --> 05:07.066 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% problems increases, then the risk of something going wrong for the public living around the 05:08.433 --> 05:09.633 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% sites increases. 05:09.633 --> 05:12.833 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: The AP's Ellen Knickmeyer. 05:12.833 --> 05:15.266 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% And we will continue to watch all these concerns in the days to come.