EPA Union Lobbies for Environmental Justice Staff to Return

The EPA’s biggest union, along with dozens of allied groups, called on the agency to withdraw 19 recent notices laying off employees working on environmental justice.

The 19 reduction in force letters, sent to regional Environmental Protection Agency offices on Feb. 25, would delay the monitoring and cleanup of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances contamination and Superfund sites, the groups wrote March 25.

The cuts would also deprive the EPA of important data to address issues such as childhood asthma rates, and make it harder for local groups to work with the agency on securing and managing federal ...