139 employees who signed a declaration of dissent with the EPA’s policies were placed on administrative leave on Thursday after the agency accused them of illegally sabotaging the Trump administration’s agenda.
The staff members claimed in a letter released on Monday that the agency is no longer fulfilling its duty to safeguard the environment and public health. The letter was an uncommon instance of public criticism from agency staff who were aware that they might be retaliated against for criticizing the reduction in federal funding and support for environmental, health, and climate science.
The EPA stated in a statement on Thursday that it has a zero-tolerance policy for career bureaucrats who illegally undermine, sabotage, and oppose the goals of the Trump administration.
According to a copy of the email that The Associated Press was able to get, workers were informed that they would be placed in a temporary, non-duty, paid status for the next two weeks while an administrative investigation was conducted. The email stated, “It is crucial that you comprehend that this is not a disciplinary action.”
According to Jeremy Berg, a former editor-in-chief of Science magazine who is not an EPA employee but was one of the non-EPA scientists or academics that signed, over 170 EPA employees signed the statement, and another 100 signed anonymously out of fear of reprisals.
Similar actions were taken by scientists at the National Institutes of Health in June, when about 100 staff members signed a statement denouncing Trump administration policies that compromise the NIH mission, waste public funds, and endanger the health of Americans and people worldwide. Two hundred and fifty of their coworkers signed the declaration anonymously.
However, Jenna Norton, the statement’s principal organizer, told AP on Thursday that no one at NIH has been placed on administrative leave for signing the declaration and that there hasn’t been any known retaliation against them. At the agency’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Norton is in charge of health disparity research.
During his confirmation hearings, NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya stated that dissent is the essence of research and promised to be receptive to opinions that differ from his own.
EPA has reduced funding for environmental improvements in minority communities under Administrator Lee Zeldin, pledged to repeal federal regulations that reduce air pollution in national parks and tribal reservations, wants to outlaw a certain type of asbestos, and has proposed to repeal regulations that limit greenhouse gas emissions from coal- and natural gas-fueled power plants that contribute to global warming.
As part of his efforts to cut EPA’s budget and eliminate its research on environmental justice and climate change, Zeldin started reorganizing the agency’s research and development office. Additionally, he wants to repeal pollution regulations that, according to an AP analysis, are predicted to save $275 billion annually and 30,000 lives.
In response to the letter from the employees earlier this week, EPA stated that its career professionals—the great majority of whom are consummate professionals who take pride in the work this agency does on a daily basis—brief Administrator Zeldin on the most recent science and research before policy decisions are made.
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Melina Walling can be followed on [email protected] and X@MelinaWalling.
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