U.S. Environmental Protection Agency workers in the region that includes Michigan were furloughed this week as the federal government shutdown continued. EPA Region 5, headquartered in Chicago, represents six midwestern states, including Michigan.
Nicole Cantello is the president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 704, a union that represents EPA workers in the region. She said she is currently furloughed. That's become part of being a federal worker, Cantello said, and she’s worried about younger workers who are experiencing a furlough for the first time and have to grapple with financial stress while living paycheck to paycheck. “It’s hard to watch them,” she said. “I see the fear.”
When the shutdown first happened, we were on pins and needles, not understanding how much money we had left, Cantello explained. “It’s a really uncertain period, and the shutdown adds a lot of stress.”
About 70% of EPA employees have been furloughed nationwide, Cantello said. She said placing workers on mandatory unpaid leave will limit enforcement action and their ability to curb pollution, especially in the Great Lakes.
“That’s one of the biggest concerns that we have, that we left so much work on the table,” Cantello said. “We’re really concerned that the people of the Great Lakes won’t be protected right now.”
Cantello said that a lot of the EPA's work is concerned with enforcing laws and stopping polluters. “It’s a public health crisis when you have pollution in the air and water,” Cantello said, adding that the pollution the EPA works to prevent can cause disease and lung problems, among other issues.
“It’s not a good deal for the American people for us to be furloughed,” she said.
In Michigan, most people doing the everyday work with air and water environmental protection are furloughed, Cantello said. But emergency responders are still working.
Cantello said they were given no clear information by the federal government about the shutdown and its impacts. “This is the most secretive administration that we have ever dealt with as a union,” she said. She added that the reason why EPA workers were furloughed October 20 has not been made transparent.
During the federal government shutdown under the previous Trump administration, Cantello said she returned to work with emails that took her days to parse through. She said that the EPA addressed violations when it was too late to do anything about them because the violations happened during the shutdown. Cantello worries this could happen again.
Many parts of the federal government are shut down as lawmakers have been unable to reach a deal on a spending deal to fund its operations. President Donald Trump has said the shutdown represents an "unprecedented opportunity" to cut federal programs.
