The Environmental Protection Agency will now go forward without the office that advises the agency on science. That office will be “dissolved,” eliminating the feedback on the scientific basis for health and environmental regulations. According to the New York Times, the office is currently occupied by Dr. Orme-Zavaleta, an expert on the effects of chemicals on human health. Orme-Zavaleta has been at the EPA since 1981. Her position and role will now be eliminated. This follows the replacement of scientific advisory boards with lobbyists and industry insiders, and the removal of public data for EPA websites.
On Wednesday, the EPA also shut down the Office of Children’s Health Protection, with the head of that office being placed on “administrative leave” and sent home after taking away her ID, email, and access to the building. It’s not clear if Dr. Orme-Zavaleta has been given the same treatment.
The Office of Children’s Health Protection has been a part of the EPA since 1997. The Office of the Science Advisor has been with the EPA from almost its inception. Both of them produce numerous reports for both the public and the Congress. Both of them are critical in informing the regulatory process at the EPA.
These two offices, dedicated to protecting human health and helping the EPA produce results based on facts … are now gone. Destroyed in just the last two days.
So are 1,600 more EPA staffers who have been eliminated in the last 18 months.
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