EPA ousts WI biologist months after signing a letter criticizing Trump’s policies

Alexander Cole recently lost his job with the Environmental Protection Agency. His firing comes after signing a letter criticizing President Trump’s policies.

Alexander Cole, a resident of Superior, Wisconsin, was recently fired from his position at the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division Lab. He was a biologist at the Duluth-based facility for about a year prior to his termination, where he worked on the Ectotoxicology Knowledgebase Resource Hub. This tool is partially used to help develop ecological risk assessments for around 14,000 species and 13,000 chemicals.

Cole told Wisconsin Public Radio that he received an email from Travis Voyles, EPA’s Associate Deputy Administrator, on Friday notifying Cole of his termination. The email read, in part, that Cole’s “continued employment is not in the public interest.” This comes just months after he, along with hundreds of former and current EPA employees, signed a letter criticizing President Donald Trump’s environmental policies.

The June 30 letter noted that the president was undermining “the EPA mission of protecting health and the environment.” Primary areas of concern involved rolling back dozens of regulations surrounding mercury, vehicle tailpipe, and power plant pollution, among others.

The EPA had previously placed Cole and around 140 other employees from the agency on administrative leave in July. Their leave was extended for an additional two months before the EPA sent out official notices of termination. Speaking with Wisconsin Public Radio, Cole said he “signed that letter because it warned that the EPA is no longer using scientific findings to create and revoke regulation, and by doing so, it was placing American health in danger.”

For its part, the EPA is claiming that the firings are unrelated to the June 30 letter of dissent against the Trump administration

EPA’s response to the firings

A spokesperson for the Environmental Protection Agency indicated that termination decisions were made by supervisors on an individualized basis. When asked about a possible connection between the June 30 letter and the recent firings, the spokesperson stated, “The petition—signed by employees using a combination of their titles and offices—contains inaccurate information designed to mislead the public about agency business. Thankfully, this represents a small fraction of the thousands of hard-working, dedicated EPA employees who are not trying to mislead and scare the American public.”

Follow-up requests to the agency were left unanswered. Speaking with CNN, Justin Chen, who works to represent EPA employees as the president of AFGE Council 238, criticized the agency for its response to the situation. Chen said “The Trump administration and EPA’s retaliatory actions against these workers was clearly an assault on labor and free-speech rights.”

What’s next for Cole and his fellow EPA employees?

Alexander Cole, along with the other fired EPA employees, have the option of filing an appeal with the Merit Systems Protection Board. Cole declined to comment when Wisconsin Public Radio asked him if he had any plans to appeal his termination. The process would be tricky, as President Trump previously fired a member of that board, and a replacement has yet to be confirmed.

Cole appears to be in good spirits despite the bad news. He’s grateful for the support he’s currently receiving, as well as the job openings people have shared with him. He said he’d like to continue his research, and would even be open to working at Duluth’s Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division Lab again one day. “I think the Duluth lab puts out world class science,” he said, before adding, “I would love to be part of it again.” He also noted that he doesn’t regret signing the letter criticizing the Trump administration’s policies, and that he stands by the sentiments expressed within that written dissent.

As for the other EPA employees who are caught up in the matter, their administrative leave has been extended by another week, and many believe additional firings are forthcoming. Collective bargaining agreements have been terminated with federal unions, which could complicate the matter even further.

This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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