"EPA: Pruitt's Superfund Point Man Penalized By Banking Regulators"

"A former banker who is now U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's point man for Superfund has been fined $125,000 by federal banking regulators and barred from banking activity.

Albert "Kell" Kelly, former chairman of Oklahoma-based SpiritBank, signed the consent agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) about two weeks before he was announced as the chairman of EPA's task force on streamlining Superfund in May.

Two documents released Friday by FDIC don't list specific actions by Kelly, who did not admit to or deny the allegations.

But they state that Kelly "engaged or participated in a violation of law or regulation, unsafe or unsound practice, and/or breach of fiduciary duty" at SpiritBank. The violation, according to FDIC, caused the bank to suffer financial loss or other damage and involved "willful or continuing disregard" for the interests of the bank."

Mike Soraghan reports for Greenwire August 28, 2017.