Separation of Science and Health at the US EPA

Leaders from Ohio’s public health, labor, environmental, and science communities gathered on the banks of the Cuyahoga River today to voice their concerns over changes at the US EPA that could impact clean air, clean water, and natural areas.

A drastic change announced last week by US EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt will limit the number and type of available scientific studies that could be used by the agency in its rulemaking. This announcement comes on the heels of another recent policy change prohibiting the recipients of EPA research grants from serving the agency as independent advisors on issues of pesticides, pollution, children’s health and hazardous waste. Coupled with repeated attempts to slash the EPA budget, these attacks on sound science will directly affect public health and safety and will result in subsequent economic impacts, as well.

“Accomplishments seen here on the Cuyahoga River are the result of a combination of public and private efforts, as well as regulations that resulted from comprehensive scientific research,” said Tracy Sabetta of the National Wildlife Federation in Ohio. “That research is being systemically devalued by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, and as a result, the progress seen here on the river and the promise it holds for the future are at risk.”

The Trump Administration is currently on schedule to fulfill its promise to reduce the staff of the EPA nearly in half by the end of its first term.

“The loss of over 90 scientists in EPA Region 5 since Trump took office will cripple environmental protection in the State of Ohio and the Great Lakes. Administrator Pruitt plans to artificially hold down the staff at EPA even though Congress has appropriated sufficient funds for EPA hire, in an attempt to reduce the effectiveness of the Agency by depriving it of scientists,” said Nicole Cantello, Chief Steward for the American Federation of Government Employees or AFGE Local 704, representing more than 1,000 EPA employees in Region 5, including Ohio. “The Great Lakes and the people of Ohio will be fully protected when we demand that the Trump Administration and Scott Pruitt commit to fully fund and staff EPA.”

Last week, Administrator Pruitt announced the implementation of a new policy that would severely hamstring the agency by limiting the kinds of research the EPA can use when developing and enforcing public health rules. Nearly 1,000 scientists, led by the Union of Concerned Scientists, delivered a letter to Pruitt stating that this proposal “would greatly weaken EPA's ability to comprehensively consider the scientific evidence,” undermining the EPA’s capacity to protect Americans from serious health threats.

“The US EPA, using data driven science, is the primary agency charged with maintaining and improving Lake Erie’s water quality,” said Dr. Gerald Sgro, Research Adjunct at John Carroll University and member of the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Yet the current administration overseeing the US EPA has demonstrated it does not value insuring that we have clean water in our lake.”

For the second year in a row, Administrator Pruitt is asking Congress to eliminate 47 programs in the Fiscal Year 2019 budget and to deeply slash funding for EPA’s core missions, including some of the very programs he is claiming to prioritize. These budget cuts could have far-reaching impacts, including implications on job growth, economic strength, and tourism.

"Repeated attempts to slash the EPA budget, along with attacks on sound science will directly affect public health, the health of our community as well as the safety and working conditions for all working families," said Harriet Applegate, Executive Secretary of the North Shore Federation of Labor, which represents the needs of workers in Northeast Ohio.

Almost 30 percent of the funding for state and local air quality monitoring comes from grants issued by the US EPA. This proposed budget would cut that assistance by almost a third. According to the American Lung Association’s 2018 State of the Air Report, there are nearly 180,000 Ohio children suffering with asthma every day, including more than 18,000 children in Cuyahoga County alone. The Cleveland metropolitan area earned a grade of F again this year in the report for ozone pollution, as well.

“In order to get to the root of many of the illnesses facing society today, we must boldly research, discuss and confront environmental health and pollutants,” said Gloria Tavera, MD/PhD student at Case Western Reserve University. “The health of humans is inextricably interlinked with the health of the surrounding environment. Disregarding the health of our environment is wishing harm on ourselves.”

It was just over a year ago that Scott Pruitt was confirmed as Administrator of the US EPA. In a period of 6 years while serving as the Attorney General of Oklahoma, Pruitt had sued the EPA more than 14 times, with his official biography referring to him at that time as, “a leading advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda.”

"Scott Pruitt’s efforts to limit the use of the most relevant scientific data in environmental protection while excluding independent scientists and including industry-paid scientists on advisory panels are in direct conflict with the EPA's stated mission,” said Peter Whiting, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and a Professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. “They reveal an agenda that is anti-science and anti-environment.”

Groups today called for a return to common sense and the restoration of sound science in the decision-making process at the EPA, stating the very health of the environment and Ohio families depends upon it.

“Scott Pruitt serving as the Administrator of the EPA is the perfect example of the fox guarding the hen house,” said Sabetta. “It is time for the EPA to get back to doing its job of protecting public health and environmental safety rather than promoting a pro-polluter agenda and separating scientists from sound science.”