The Trump administration’s recent dismissal of hundreds of EPA employees — with more firings on the horizon — could delay the flow of dollars set aside by lawmakers for drinking water needs in their districts.
Prior to President Donald Trump’s inauguration, EPA already had limited capacity to process billions of dollars in earmarked funds to fix drinking water and sewage treatment plants across the nation. The federal funding can help communities remove dangerous chemicals from water, build new water lines and replace toxic lead pipes.
Work on those projects could slow down with fewer people at the agency. At least one team working to ensure communities receive federal grants for water projects already lost people this month, when EPA fired 388 people who had been employed for less than one year, a former staffer said. But EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has also vowed to pursue deeper cuts.
“It’s just going to be super-slow getting the money to communities without the manpower to work with them,” said Luke Wright, formerly in EPA’s Southeastern office. “My program was already understaffed and didn’t have the manpower to get federal appropriations out the door.”
