Read the full article by Lisa John Rogers (Great Lakes Now)
“On April 15, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) staff were told to cancel tens of millions of dollars worth of pending and active grants. According to The New York Times, this includes ‘about $8 million in grants that had been awarded to researchers studying how to prevent harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, from accumulating in crops and the food chain.’ About one week later, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that in the next few weeks, the agency will update the public on its approach to PFAS and address water utility companies’ concerns.
According to reporting from The Lever, in the late hours of April 18, the EPA hid a data map tracking thousands of high-risk chemical facilities across the United States. This comes after additional reporting from Katya Schwenk about how chemical industry lobbyists sent a letter, shortly after President Trump’s inauguration, asking that the new administration take down the public records. EPA spokesperson Molly Vaseliou said in a statement to The Lever that they are re-evaluating the tool and regulations ‘to boost safety and competitiveness of American businesses.’ This data was only made public last year.” …