EPA puts on leave 139 employees who spoke out against policies under Trump

The Environmental Protection Agency connected Thursday enactment connected administrative permission 139 employees who signed a “declaration of dissent” with its policies, accusing them of “unlawfully undermining” the Trump administration's agenda.

In a missive made nationalist Monday, the employees wrote that the bureau is nary longer surviving up to its ngo to support quality wellness and the environment. The missive represented uncommon nationalist disapproval from bureau employees who knew they could look blowback for speaking retired against a weakening of backing and national enactment for climate, biology and wellness science.

In a connection Thursday, the EPA said it has a “zero-tolerance argumentation for vocation bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging and undercutting” the Trump administration’s agenda.

Employees were notified that they had been placed successful a “temporary, non-duty, paid status” for the adjacent 2 weeks, pending an “administrative investigation,” according to a transcript of the email obtained by The Associated Press. “It is important that you recognize that this is not a disciplinary action,” the email read.

More than 170 EPA employees enactment their names to the document, with astir 100 much signing anonymously retired of fearfulness of retaliation, according to Jeremy Berg, a erstwhile editor-in-chief of Science mag who is not an EPA worker but was among non-EPA scientists oregon academics to besides sign.

Scientists astatine the National Institutes of Health made a akin determination earlier successful June, but Berg said helium was unaware of immoderate astatine NIH who person been placed connected akin administrative leave.

Under Administrator Lee Zeldin, EPA has cut backing for biology improvements successful number communities, vowed to rotation backmost national regulations that little air contamination successful nationalist parks and tribal reservations, wants to undo a prohibition connected a benignant of asbestos and projected repealing rules that limit planet-warming greenhouse state emissions from powerfulness plants fueled by ember and earthy gas.

Zeldin began reorganizing the EPA’s probe and improvement office arsenic portion of his propulsion to slash its fund and gut its survey of clime alteration and biology justice. And he’s seeking to rotation backmost contamination rules that an AP introspection recovered were estimated to prevention 30,000 lives and $275 cardinal each year.

The EPA responded to the employees' missive earlier this week by saying argumentation decisions “are a effect of a process wherever Administrator Zeldin is briefed connected the latest probe and subject by EPA’s vocation professionals, and the immense bulk who are consummate professionals who instrumentality pridefulness successful the enactment this bureau does time successful and time out.”

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