FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 18, 2025
CONTACT:
Aaron Bharucha, Public Relations Associate
(509) 429-1699 and epn-press@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org
Plans to Eliminate EPA’s Science Office are a Wrecking Ball Assault on Science
WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 18, 2025 — According to documents obtained by House science committee Democrats and reported in the New York Times, the Environmental Protection Agency plans to eliminate its scientific office, “firing as many as 1,155 chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists.”
“This is a wrecking ball assault on the science that protects the air we breathe and the water we drink from toxic chemicals and pollution,” said Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, the former Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development, the office targeted for elimination according to reports. “Shuttering EPA’s science offices would take a chainsaw to the work of toxicologists, physicians, nurses and other experts across the country, particularly in places like North Carolina, Oklahoma, Ohio, and Georgia, where the agency operates major research labs.”
“The only reason to get rid of all the scientists is if you plan to replace the best science with biased decisions driven by politics and favoritism,” continued Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta. “EPA’s mission is to protect human health and the environment. America’s bedrock environmental laws such as the Clean Air Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act require EPA to use the best available science.”
Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta is available to respond to media inquiries.
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