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Trump Reverses Course, Reinstates Some EPA Workers Fired From Chicago Office Just Days Earlier [1]
['Brett Chase', 'Chicago Sun-Times', 'Christine Peterson', 'High Country News', 'Aman Azhar', 'Kiley Bense', 'Martha Pskowski', 'Arcelia Martin']
Date: 2025-02-20 18:52:10+00:00
Some employees who recently lost their jobs at the Chicago office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were told Wednesday they can return to work.
A uniform email sent to some probationary employees gave no reason why their jobs were reinstated but did say sorry.
“On behalf of EPA, we apologize for this inconvenience and thank you for your service to the agency,” the email sent Wednesday said.
It’s estimated by union officials that as many as 40 Chicago EPA workers were cut Friday as part of President Donald Trump’s reduction in federal employee headcounts. At least six of the workers were notified Wednesday that the “agency is rescinding your termination. You are not being removed from EPA or from federal civil services at this time.”
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The group of workers who regained their jobs includes three scientists who were earlier interviewed by the Sun-Times about being fired last week.
Those EPA new hires include Nyla McCranie, a scientist on the environmental justice team; Bridget Lynch, a scientist focused on drinking water and ground water protection; and Nicole Smith, who works on air quality issues.
“This was a dream job for me,” Smith told the Sun-Times on Tuesday.
All three declined to comment on their reinstatement Wednesday, citing agency policy to not discuss EPA matters with the media.
As a scientist in the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, Nicole Smith was working on a few projects in her new job, including analysis of state pollution reports.
At the Tuesday rally in Federal Plaza, Smith held a sign that said “I was illegally terminated while protecting Americans from poisoned air.”
EPA’s regional office in Chicago oversees environmental protection and air, water and land pollution issues in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin and 37 Native American tribes. The agency has historically employed more than 1,000 people in Chicago and across the Midwest.
Questions about the decisions were referred to the EPA’s media relations team in Washington, which provided a broad statement on probationary employees across the country.
“EPA has terminated 388 probationary employees after a thorough review of agency functions in accordance with President Trump’s executive orders,” the statement said. The agency “has followed standard protocols and procedures, ensuring impacted staff received notifications of their status.”
A union official in Chicago called Trump’s actions “chaotic and disturbing.”
“It’s so difficult to work at the agency right now,” said Nicole Cantello, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 704. The union represents hundreds of Midwest EPA workers.
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