EPA workers in RTP among those put on leave for criticizing Trump, Zeldin policies
Environmental Protection Agency workers in Research Triangle Park are among those the agency has put on administrative leave for signing a letter criticizing EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.
At least six Triangle staff members are currently on leave, says Holly Wilson, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3347, which represents area agency workers.
These employees will be paid but are barred from all agency duties through July 17, “pending an administrative investigation,” according to an internal EPA email sent on July 3 and reviewed by The News & Observer.
The agency confirmed it placed 139 workers on leave last week after they signed a letter addressed to Zeldin, which accused his administration of “recklessly undermining the EPA mission” in five areas, including “undermining public trust” and “ignoring scientific consensus to benefit polluters.”
The petition was hosted on the website of Stand Up For Science, a nonprofit advocacy group launched in February to protest federal funding cuts under President Donald Trump. While some EPA employees signed the dissent letter anonymously, others entered their names.
In a statement Monday, the EPA said it “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 agency also said the workers on leave represented “a small fraction” of the EPA’s total workforce.
Zeldin, a former Republican congressman from Long Island, was confirmed to lead the environmental agency shortly after President Trump retook office. In May, he said his agency aimed to lower spending by $300 million and reduce employment to its 1980s level. Entering the new Trump administration, the EPA had more than 15,000 total employees, down from more than 17,000 workers in 2010.
The EPA said the employees on leave had included their agency positions when signing the petition, which could have given the impression they were acting in their professional capacities. Yet Wilson argues signing the letter was a protected act of free speech.
“The mildest dissent should not be met with fear and intimidation,” she said. “Staff are within their rights to engage with management when they have concerns. In fact, it is their duty.”
In a statement Monday, the American Federation of Government Employees demanded the return of all EPA workers on leave and said it planned “to protect its members to the fullest extent of the law and our contract.”
The EPA campus in Research Triangle Park focuses on air-quality regulations and is the agency’s biggest site. More than 2,000 full-time federal employees and contractors reported to its facilities, as of last year. This site also housed a significant portion of the agency’s scientific research division, called the Office of Research and Development, which the Trump administration has proposed reorganizing into a smaller Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions.
“Dismantling the Office of Research and Development” was one of the five concerns EPA staff listed in their dissent letter.
This story was originally published July 8, 2025 at 5:45 AM with the headline "EPA workers in RTP among those put on leave for criticizing Trump, Zeldin policies."
