Two top US EPA staff members quit amid fury over ‘ethics violations and excess spending of tax money’ claims directed at Scott Pruitt

Security chief Pasquale ‘Nino’ Perrotta and Superfund clean-up head Albert ‘Kell’ Kelly have both stepped down as their boss, Scott Pruitt, continues to undergo scrutiny over alleged ethics violations

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Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt speaks at a news conference in April last year, with Pasquale ‘Nino’ Perrotta seen second from left. Perrotta, Pruitt’s security chief, has resigned amid anger over alleged overspending on Pruitt’s security detail. Photo: AP

Published: 2:45am, 2 May 2018Updated: 2:47am, 2 May 2018

Two high-level Environmental Protection Agency employees whose names have come up in investigations of Administrator Scott Pruitt’s ethics and travel have resigned from the agency, the EPA confirmed on Tuesday.

Pasquale “Nino” Perrotta, a former Secret Service agent who served as the head of Pruitt’s security team, resigned on Monday but said he will continue to cooperate in a US House of Representatives investigation of his role in costly decisions around Pruitt’s security. ABC News first reported the resignation on Tuesday.

Albert “Kell” Kelly, who ran the agency’s Superfund clean-up programme – which cleans up oil spills and similar sites – also announced his resignation, the EPA confirmed. Kelly was barred by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation from working at any US financial institution after unspecified violations while working at a bank in Oklahoma.

Lawmakers last week grilled Pruitt in back-to-back hearings on reports of ethics violations, excessive spending on travel and security, close industry ties and the reassignment of agency whistle-blowers who flagged concerns about high spending.

Albert Kelly is seen in this undated screen capture. Photo: C-Span

Those issues included the installation of a US$43,000 soundproof phone booth in Pruitt’s office and routine use of first-class flights – both of which the EPA has argued were important to Pruitt’s safety and privacy.

Pruitt praised both men for their work at EPA, citing Kelly’s “tremendous impact on EPA’s Superfund programme” and Perrotta’s service to four EPA administrators.