US environment agency employees say Trump administration undermining mission

By Valerie Volcovici

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Nearly 300 current and recently terminated employees of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published a declaration of dissent on Monday, outlining five major concerns about how the Trump administration's politicization of science and severe job cuts were undermining the agency's mission.

The declaration to Administrator Lee Zeldin was sent as another expected round of staff reductions looms and as the agency undergoes a major reorganization, including the dissolution of its office of research and cancelling of billions of dollars in grants.

The reorganization will consolidate several key offices, reflecting plans to cut regulatory red tape and promote more fossil fuel energy development, as laid out in President Donald Trump's executive orders.

"Today, we stand together in dissent against the current administration's focus on harmful deregulation, mischaracterization of previous EPA actions, and disregard for scientific expertise," said the 278 EPA employees who wrote and signed the letter in their personal capacities, including 174 who signed their full names.

The declaration is similar to one sent earlier this month by employees of the National Institutes of Health to its director to protest the politicization of research and disruption of scientific progress.

The EPA employees said their five main concerns are the partisan rhetoric and misinformation shared in EPA communications; disregard for the agency's own scientific assessments; abandoning environmental justice while slashing funding; dismantling the research office; and creating a culture of fear.

"Your decisions and actions will reverberate for generations to come," they said. "EPA under your leadership will not protect communities from hazardous chemicals and unsafe drinking water, but instead will increase risks to public health and safety."

(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Saad Sayeed)

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