Federal civil servants and supporters rallied in Manhattan’s Foley Square on Wednesday evening to demand the reinstatement of 139 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency staffers placed on administrative leave last week.
EPA Region 2, which includes New York and New Jersey, had 13 staffers placed on leave. The AFGE Local 3911 union that represents them said the involuntary leaves were retaliation for signing a letter opposing agency chief Lee Zeldin’s policies on the grounds they “undermine the EPA mission of protecting human health and the environment.”
More than 100 demonstrators waving “Save EPA” signs gathered at Federal Plaza. They included current and former EPA staff and representatives of the nonprofit advocacy groups WE ACT for Environmental Justice and Food and Water Watch. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams also joined the rally, alongside the iconic inflatable labor mascot, Scabby the Rat.
“We are the canaries in the coal mine and we're not going to be the last people that are gone after for personal views,” Suzy Englot, president of AFGE Local 3911, said ahead of the demonstration. “People are being put on administrative leave and investigated for their private views, standing up to policies on their own time that they think are contrary to what the EPA’s mission is.”
The agency has been shrinking since March. Union leaders estimate roughly 10% of the staff across all its departments were terminated, placed on leave or opted for deferred resignation in Region 2. Englot said some of the hardest-hit divisions include community engagement and water quality.
Late on the afternoon of July 3, some EPA staff received an emailed notice that they had to leave by 4 p.m. that day, although it said they would still be paid. According to the notice, which was reviewed by Gothamist, the administrative leave will last until July 17, with a potential for an extension, depending on how quickly the agency concludes its investigation. No reason was given in the notices for the investigation.
“Zeldin is forcing the taxpayers to spend how many tens of thousands of dollars every day for people to not do their jobs and not protect the American public because they're barred from the office?” union vice president Harper Stanfield said. “We have project managers in the Superfund division whose job is to clean up some of the most toxic sites in the country, and New Jersey has more Superfund sites than any state in the nation.”
An EPA spokesperson said the 139 affected employees were being investigated for signing a petition using their official EPA titles. The letter contains information that misleads the public about agency business, according to the EPA, which didn't say what specifically is misleading.
“The Environmental Protection Agency has a zero-tolerance policy for career bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging and undercutting the administration’s agenda as voted for by the great people of this country last November,” spokesperson Carolyn Holran said in a statement.
In March, a couple of months after Zeldin was sworn in as EPA chief, he announced he would cut 65% of the agency’s budget and slash “wasteful spending.” Zeldin, who was formerly a Republican congressmember and New York gubernatorial candidate, said the cuts were meant to “power the great American comeback” and to stop “funding left-wing, ideological pet projects.”
Working with the Department of Governmental Efficiency set up by Tesla founder Elon Musk, Zeldin said he has already cancelled more than $2 billion in diversity, equity and inclusion and environmental justice grants, and cut about $300 million annually in staff.
The cuts reflect President Donald Trump’s larger goal of deregulation to fast track economic growth, especially domestic fossil-fuel production under one of his early executive orders. The EPA has said there are 31 environmental regulations that may be weakened or eliminated, including by redefining clean air standards, regulations on the fossil fuel industry and greenhouse-gas reporting.
While the EPA has the authority to eliminate or modify its rules, the agency must follow procedures that include notice and public comments. All efforts to deregulate must be justified and can face legal challenges on the grounds they are arbitrary, capricious, not supported by evidence or could potentially harm public health or the environment.
The letter of protest was signed by more than 600 former and current EPA staff and 8,000 Americans, including 21 Nobel Laureates. The petition points to five concerns, including ignoring scientific evidence to benefit polluters and dismantling the agency’s research and development division, which provides the scientific basis for its decision-making. The letter also accuses EPA leadership of creating a culture of fear, intimidation and coercion.
“It feels kind of demoralizing and at the same time I will say for myself that I have no plans on leaving,” Englot, the union president, said. “I believe strongly in the EPA as an institution and I'm going to do whatever I can to make sure that it's still standing after all of this, and I think there are a lot of people who work here who feel the same way.”
