FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 9, 2025
CONTACT: Aaron Bharucha, Public Relations Associate
(509) 429-1699 and epn-press@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org
EPA Shuts Down is a Toxic Taste of How Trump’s Dismantling of EPA Harms Americans’ Health and Safety
“Toxic pollution doesn’t pause during a shutdown.”
Washington D.C. – EPA has begun furloughing employees, initiating a plan that will lead to nearly 90% of EPA staff off the job—halting inspections, pollution oversight, and permitting nationwide. Even before the current shutdown, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has driven thousands of EPA scientists and other staff out of the agency. Jeremy Symons, senior advisor for the Environmental Protection Network, made the following statement.
“Toxic pollution doesn’t pause during a shutdown. When EPA goes dark, the protections that keep kids out of emergency rooms and toxic chemicals out of our water go unenforced.
For months, this administration has been dismantling EPA piece by piece. This shutdown of EPA is a toxic taste of what’s to come unless Congress steps in to restore the agency’s capacity to protect the American people.”
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