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Empresas y finanzas

Obama nominee for deputy EPA chief withdraws


    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's nominee for the No. 2 position at the Environmental Protection Agency, Jon Cannon, removed himself from consideration on Wednesday, the latest in a string of withdrawals among nominees for administration posts.

    Cannon said he was removing his name from consideration to be EPA deputy administrator because of scrutiny of America's Clean Water Foundation, where he once served on the board of directors.

    "While my service on the board of that now-dissolved organization is not the subject of the scrutiny, I believe the energy and environmental challenges facing our nation are too great to delay confirmation for this position, and I do not wish to present any distraction to the agency," Cannon said in a statement released by the EPA.

    The EPA Inspector General's Office found in 2007 that the Clean Water foundation mismanaged more than $25 million in EPA grants, The Washington Post reported. The foundation disbanded in 2006.

    EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said the administration would move quickly to identify a new candidate.

    (Editing by Peter Cooney)