Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took a shot at Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt Wednesday by suggesting he guzzle contaminated water.
“I’m a simple guy so I have a simple remedy when people like Pruitt ignore or hide pollution: if you don’t have a problem with Americans drinking contaminated drinking water, drink it yourself until you tap out or resign,” Schwarzenegger wrote on Twitter.
Schwarzenegger’s tweet to Pruitt followed reports that the EPA attempted to bury a federal study on toxic chemicals in American water supplies.
I’m a simple guy so I have a simple remedy when people like Pruitt ignore or hide pollution: if you don’t have a problem with Americans drinking contaminated drinking water, drink it yourself until you tap out or resign. https://t.co/RwPpGJPthE
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) May 16, 2018
Schwarzenegger’s comment to Pruitt comes amid the release of internal Trump administration emails that revealed a fear within the EPA of a public relations “nightmare” should the suggested standards for fluorinated chemicals in drinking water change.
Fluorinated products are used in hoses that reduce emissions for vehicles and stain resistance for clothes, but are linked to many health problems, including cancer of the kidneys and testicles.
The study showed that chemicals in some water supplies were potentially harmful to the health of humans at lower levels than the EPA had suggested.
A change in these standards for drinking water would set the safe levels for chemicals at nearly one-sixth of the EPA’s current standard suggestion.
In testifying before senators on Wednesday, Pruitt said that some of the decisions that lead to the scandals were not handled properly.