OSU Professor Joins Lawsuit Against US EPA

On Tuesday, February 20th, the National Wildlife Federation, Moms Clean Air Force in Ohio and their partners hosted a public health roundtable on the campus of the Ohio State University to discuss the impacts of continued attempts by US EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to separate scientists from sound science.

In October 2017, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt introduced a policy that prohibits the recipients of EPA research grants from serving the agency as independent advisers on issues of pesticides, pollution, children’s health and hazardous waste. Many in the scientific community believe that the ban unfairly forces academics to choose between competitive grants needed to fund cutting-edge projects and the opportunity to serve as critical advisers for that research.

Ohio State Associate Professor Robyn Wilson is one of a small group of scientists asked to step down as a result of this ban. Refusing to give up either her seat or her funding, Dr. Wilson has joined a lawsuit to challenge this rule. The Union of Concerned Scientists has filed subsequent suits and is involved in the debate.

“There is so much controversy today over what to do about a variety of issues ranging from gun control to climate change. It is important to remember that the science is critical to both identifying the problem and assessing potential solutions,” said Dr. Wilson. “The science doesn’t make the decisions, it is our values that make the decisions. But the science is critical to identify how best to protect the things that we value.” Dr. Wilson is an Associate Professor in the School of Environment and Nature Resources at the Ohio State University.

Almost exactly one year ago, 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. In fact, his official biography referred to him at that time as, “a leading advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda.”

He has been criticized since day one for his frequent and closed-door communications with oil, gas, and coal companies, and most recently for spending tens of thousands of dollars on first class flights because people in coach had previously “been mean to him.”

For the second fiscal year in a row, Administrator Pruitt is asking Congress to eliminate 47 programs in Fiscal Year 2019 and deeply slash funding for EPA’s core missions, including some of the very programs he is claiming to prioritize.

“Over the past four decades, EPA’s budget has fallen 55% in real terms as our population grew by 100 million and our economy doubled. During that time Congress added at least a dozen major new and necessary laws to protect the public, meaning that EPA has consistently been asked to do more with less,” said Laura Burns, Field Organizer with Moms Clean Air Force in Ohio. “In Ohio, this means the 135 million in grants to clean up lead pollution and toxic waste are in serious jeopardy and leaves the health of our families are placed at greater risk for the impacts of living in an unhealthy environment.”

Almost 30 percent of the funding for state and local air quality monitoring comes from EPA. This proposed budget would cut that assistance by almost a third. And despite Pruitt’s recent statements about this EPA declaring a war on lead, the EPA budget proposes a 33% cut in grants to states to supervise public water systems and would eliminate both the Lead Risk Reduction Program and grants to train lead removal contractors. Also of particular interest to Ohioans is that the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is again slated for a 90% cut.

“From lead to air pollution to toxic waste to water, the proposal to hollow out the EPA would mean more asthma attacks for our kids and more health impacts for Ohioans,” said Tracy Sabetta, National Wildlife Federation in Ohio. “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."