The mood was grim at a town hall meeting called by the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday. The gathering came one day after The New York Times reported a bombshell — Lee Zeldin, the agency’s administrator, plans to dismantle its Office of Research and Development, eliminating 50 to 75 percent of its 1,500 or so chemists, toxicologists, biologists, and other experts. The department, which conducts essential research to inform federal policies, plays a critical role in the agency’s mission to safeguard public health and the environment. Laying off most of its staff, many of whom are career scientists, would leave the EPA without the independent and rigorous science needed to develop effective regulations. No one consulted the office’s leaders about the plan.
Maureen Gwinn, who leads the Office of Research and Development, or ORD, is not a political appointee, and her team learned about the specifics of the proposal when they read about it in the Times. Managers quickly set up an all-hands with the department staff to discuss it.
“There was no preparation,” H... Read more
