The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency put 139 employees on leave July 3 for signing a scathing letter contending the core mission of protecting human health and the environment is not being met under Administrator Lee Zeldin.
The Declaration of Dissent, signed by hundreds of former EPA workers as well, denounced “the current administration’s focus on harmful deregulation, mischaracterization of previous EPA actions, and disregard for scientific expertise.” It also detailed five primary concerns about actions Zeldin has taken: undermining public trust; ignoring scientific consensus; reversing the progress in vulnerable communities; dismantling the Office of Research and Development; and promoting a culture of fear.
The declaration said Zeldin was turning back the clock on scientific progress and eroding trust in the agency.
“It’s not the organization that I dreamed of working for. If they’re not going to protect the health of everyday Americans, then I don’t know what they expect from us,” said Mike Pasqua, a life scientist at the EPA’s Region 5 and director of Wisconsin’s clean water program. Pasqua, who signed the document, spoke before the leaves were announced.
Region 5 serves Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin and 37 tribes within those states. At least 40 of the letter’s signatories claimed affiliation with Region 5.
The EPA document came less than one month after employees at the National Institutes of Health issued a public letter to NIH director Jay Bhattacharya. The NIH letter, which was signed by 69 Nobel Laureates in addition to hundreds of NIH employees, claimed that specific action from NIH leadership “prioritizes political momentum over human safety and faithful stewardship of public resources.”
The 139 EPA employees who received emails July 3 were informed they are on leave until July 17, pending an investigation, at least in part because they signed the document using their official EPA positions. In a July 3 email to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, an EPA spokesperson said the document contains information that misleads the public about agency business. Further, the signers of the document represent only a small portion of the thousands of EPA employees, the email said.
“The Environmental Protection Agency has a zero-tolerance policy for career bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging, and undercutting the administration’s agenda as voted for by the great people of this country last November,” the unsigned EPA email said.
As of 2:45 p.m. July 3, the list of signatories on the Declaration of Dissent was made anonymous.
This is not the first time EPA Region 5 employees have raised these issues during the Trump administration. EPA workers at the Region 5 office in Chicago have held multiple rallies this year that were organized independently of the Declaration of Dissent, but voiced many of the same concerns. And in May 2025 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on funding cuts, firings and surveillance in Region 5 that employees said created a culture of fear and could threaten Great Lakes drinking water and public health.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: EPA workers, many from Wisconsin, blasted leadership. Now, they’ve been put on leave.
Reporting by Andrew Montequin, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
