A top Ohio environmental regulator alleged Monday that Gov. John Kasich forced him to resign because of pressure from the coal industry, the Associated Press reports.
George Elmaraghy, who had led the state Division of Surface Water since 2005, told agency staff in an email that his office had been under “considerable pressure” from the coal industry to approve coal permits that Elmaraghy said would have violated state and federal law and damaged the state’s ecosystem.
In the email, Elmaraghy also claimed that Kasich and Ohio EPA director Scott Nally had asked him to resign effective Sept. 13. Elmaraghy had served with the agency for 39 years.
Kasich’s office and the Ohio EPA declined to comment to the AP on the allegations.
