Regional Director Hammond has led the EPA's regional office since 2019. Internal correspondence obtained by The Public Record shows that Hammond ordered the Harlan County groundwater study held on November 3, 2021 — 12 days after the study team completed its findings.
In a November 3 email, Hammond directed the study team to "revise methodology" and "reconsider causal framing" before any distribution. When the team declined to alter its conclusions — which linked industrial runoff to cancer rates 2.3 times the national average — the project was reassigned to a different team on January 14, 2022.
The suppressed study has never been published. The three chemical facilities identified in the study continue to operate. Residents of Harlan, Crestwood, and Millfield counties have not been notified.
Hammond did not respond to requests for comment. The EPA's press office issued a statement saying the agency "does not comment on internal deliberative processes."
Internal documents obtained through FOIA reveal agency scientists were ordered to suppress findings linking industrial runoff to elevated cancer rates in three rural counties.
