Workers at the Environmental Protection Agency say staffing and morale levels have fallen dramatically.
So low, in fact, that HuffPost reports they’re calling for a new “bill of rights” to protect the EPA’s scientific integrity.
EPA employees are demanding that agency leadership not interfere politically in their enforcement duties or their environmental research.
They’re also asking for a beefed-up budget, an end to government shutdowns and a new union contract bargained by both sides.
Bethany Dreyfus is a lawyer working on Superfund enforcement for the EPA in San Francisco.
Dreyfus says the EPA's offices have been stretched thin by employee attrition.
She also said employees are worn down by what she sees as the White House’s hostility to the agency’s core work.