Cuts at EPA's Chicago office could impact Michigan's emergency response efforts
One of the country's largest federal agencies is facing significant cuts, which could spell major changes to how Michigan handles its environmental issues.
"That means that there's going to be some future incident where we're not going to have the capacity to respond," said Liesl Clark, Director of Climate Action Engagement at the University of Michigan.
Michigan environmental advocates say news of major cuts and layoffs at the EPA's Chicago office could lead to trouble for our state's future response efforts.
"Not being able to have the capacity to enforce means that industries can take the shortcuts. They can do what they feel is in the best interest of their business, not necessarily in the best interest of our health," said Rev. Sharon Buttry, Steering Committee Member of the Detroit Hamtramck Coalition for Advancing Healthy Environments, a grassroots advocacy group.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration placed 168 EPA environmental justice workers on leave, following the executive order that placed a freeze on federal funds.
While a judge overturned the order, experts anticipate up to 20% of the workforce could disappear — potentially placing added strain on first responders to address Michigan's issues, like water filtration and poor air quality.
"The EPA is often in there very quickly after with resources that are just unmatched at the state level. So, we really need those dollars and those resources in order to do the immediate containment of incidents like this, as well as future cleanup," said Clark.
"We look for residents who are having issues with pollution, especially health problems related to pollution, and then we try to find out how to hold industry and government accountable for those issues," added Buttry.
Buttry says the gutting of the Great Lakes office could lead to major consequences for Michiganders, including timely access to life-saving information.
"We depend on air monitoring; we depend on water quality reports and alerts. These things are very important to our health. Being able to drink water and breathe; it doesn't get more basic than that," said Rev. Buttry.
While there hasn't been official confirmation on any planned cuts to the Great Lakes team, both Clark and Buttry say the threat could still cause ripple effects to the work done on the ground.
