“Intense Culture of Fear”: Behind the Scenes as Trump Destroys the EPA From Within

EPA staffers are speaking out in the wake of staff cuts and the gutting of a spate of programs to remove lead from drinking water, support rural wastewater treatment, and address racial disparities in environmental pollution.

EPA has said it is aiming to cut the agency’s budget by 65 percent and bring staffing levels to Reagan -era levels.

An EPA spokesperson disputed staffers’ characterization of its efforts to cut staff and weaken programs.

The EPA announced in March that it was ending its Environmental Justice Program and the agency’s “DEI Arms’ The agency said the term “environmental justice” had been used to advance left-wing politics.

Staffers said the government is now leaving communities vulnerable to life-threatening pollution and health hazards.

EPA staff are now put in the position of betraying communities they’ve tried to build trust in, she said.

“Now you just have to let them down,” she said. “It’s the heartbreak of watching these people who you promised you were going to help be let down again, to have your hands tied behind your back, and at the same time being accused of being poor stewards of taxpayer funds”.