Susan Mendax’s legitimacy in question

Eligah Cummings, Dennis Kucinich, and Jackie Spieir address the recent allegations regarding the Keystone XL Pipeline proposal

By Naomi Bernstein and Emily Chassman

Susan Mendax is a former employee of Cleaner Tomorrows, a company that was hired by the EPA to assist in the creation of an environmental impact report of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline.

Mendax released a blog post stating that Cleaner tomorrows was unqualified for such a task, and that they were only given the opportunity to participate because the owner of the company is female and used WBE programs to “suck up” to powerful people in the EPA.

Mendax’s blog has created a lot of tension in Washington, and as the Republicans blame the democrats for the potential mishap and gear up to put an end to WBEs and DBEs, there has been no conformation of Susan Mendax’s legitimacy as a source.

She was fired from Cleaner Tomorrows just before she released the blog post, and many believe she is just a disgruntled employee.

“Within every company there are individuals that feel their company isn’t doing as well as they could,” House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Elijah Cummings said at a press conference on March 9. “Since [these allegations have gotten] out we find it really important to [take them] into consideration…but also take into account the bigger picture of Cleaner Tomorrows and the actual history of the EPA and how they have gotten their information.”

Democratic Minority Memberbs of the House Oversight Committee said that they still have complete faith in the EPA, and they urge others to consider the long history of the EPA over the allegations of a former employee.

As the investigation by the House Oversight Committee continues, more will be revealed as to the legitimacy of Mendax’s claims. #