Trump Administration’s EPA Actions Raise Concerns Over Environmental Protection
For more than two years, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials from Chicago have been helping a small, predominantly white Ohio village recover from a devastating train derailment that spilled over 100,000 gallons of hazardous chemicals into the community.
Vice President JD Vance Promises Cleanup, Amid EPA Staffing Cuts
This week, Vice President John Delaney Vance, a former U.S. senator from Ohio, visited the East Palestine accident site. He vowed that the EPA would see the cleanup process through to completion.
Simultaneously, the Trump/Vance administration is planning to dismiss or relocate over 20% of the EPA’s Chicago staff, including experts in enforcing clean air and water laws and those dedicated to assisting poor communities disproportionately affected by pollution in the Midwest.
The EPA’s Contradictory Roles under Trump Administration
This contradiction highlights the ongoing issue where the Trump administration repeatedly attempts to reduce environmental protections while simultaneously promising to deliver clean air and water to Americans.
“They claim they want to focus EPA on its core mission,” stated Nicole Cantello, president of the union representing approximately 1,000 EPA employees in Chicago. “But how can they protect public health and the environment if they continuously undermine us?”
History of EPA Chicago Under Trump’s Leadership
The EPA’s Midwest office is traditionally one of the busiest in the agency, prosecuting companies that violate environmental laws in Illinois, Ohio, and surrounding Great Lakes states.
During his first term, President Trump purged numerous career officials in the Chicago office aiming to reduce the agency’s impact on businesses. His latest move to downsize the workforce is spearheaded by Elon Musk, whose companies Tesla and SpaceX have faced significant EPA fines for environmental violations.
“Elon Musk wants to turn the EPA into every polluter’s ally,” stated U.S. Senator Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, during a rally at the EPA headquarters. “He wants to take environmental cops off the beat.”
Past Trends Reveal EPA’s Erosion of Environmental Protections
Historical data shows that water pollution cases filed by the EPA in the Great Lakes region decreased in each of the first three years under Trump’s presidency, according to an analysis of EPA records conducted by the nonprofit Environmental Law and Policy Center.
Conversely, the number of chronic violators of the Clean Water Act in the industrially heavy states increased drastically.
Specifically, the Trump EPA did not punish U.S. Steel over confirmed illegal pollution into Lake Michigan, the primary drinking water source for the Chicago area. It took a threatened lawsuit from the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Chicago to prompt action.
Another lawsuit from the Environmental Law and Policy Center was required to scrutinize a Lake Michigan tributary polluted by the steel mill owned by Cleveland-Cliffs, which dumped fish-killing ammonia and cyanide.
Key EPA Officials Under Trump: Scott Pruitt and Andrew Wheeler
During his first term, Scott Pruitt, a former Oklahoma attorney general who frequently sued the EPA, led the agency. Similarly, Andrew Wheeler, a coal industry lobbyist, served as acting administrator.
Pruitt and Wheeler frequently deferred crucial environmental and public health initiatives to state governments while proposing deep cuts to federal grants that support state environmental programs.
Former New York Congressman Lee Zeldin, who currently leads the EPA, has frozen billions of dollars in EPA grants aimed at reducing climate change and promoting electric vehicles.
Zeldin, along with his Republican colleagues, opposed the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act that aimed to boost renewable energy and clean manufacturing in the U.S.
Implications for Public Health and the Environment
One of Zeldin’s top deputies, Nancy B. Beck, previously worked for the American Chemistry Council, where she testified in favor of Republican legislation making it harder to restrict harmful chemicals such as PFAS and ethylene oxide.
The chemical industry group is also suing the EPA over regulations on PFAS and ethylene oxide implemented during the Biden administration.
More than 8 million Illinois residents drink water from utilities contaminated with at least one PFAS chemical, according to a 2022 Chicago Tribune investigation.
The high levels of ethylene oxide contamination prompted the closure of a sterilization plant in Willowbrook, Illinois, and led to new regulations in Waukegan.
Blame Shifting: Vance Accuses Democrats of Inaction
Throughout his Ohio visit, Vance blamed Democrats for failing to pass legislation intended to prevent similar derailments. However, this bill faced opposition from several Republican senators and a majority of the Republican-controlled House.
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