"At least a third of the scientists and staff at EPA’s specialized forensics lab have quit or retired over the past five years, an exodus that threatens the unit’s central role in solving some of the nation’s most difficult environmental crimes.
The brain drain at the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Enforcement Investigations Center spans the Trump and Biden administrations, and corresponds with a severely truncated time limit to complete scientific investigations and what more than 15 current and former employees described to Bloomberg Law as a hostile workplace.
As a result, the EPA isn’t getting the evidence it needs to button up big, comprehensive settlements and enforcement orders at a time when the Biden administration is publicly emphasizing scientific integrity and environmental justice, the employees said.
“In the past, people had to die before they left,” said Ken Garing, a 30-year NEIC veteran who retired in 2017. “People used to love going to work there. Now it’s like, ‘When the heck am I gonna get out?’”"
Stephen Lee reports for Bloomberg Environment November 29, 2021.
