Axios Raleigh by Zachery Eanes

Worries are growing that the Environmental Protection Agency could make deep cuts to its research offices in North Carolina.

Why it matters: The EPA's campus in Research Triangle Park is the agency's largest, covering 1.2 million square feet of space and 15 offices.

• With around 2,000 local workers, the EPA was the 19th largest employer in Durham County last year, according to the N.C. Department of Commerce.

Threat level: In March, the New York Times reported that the EPA could dismantle its Office of Research and Development and cut more than 1,000 jobs.

• The ORD, which conducts the scientific research the agency uses to make its rulings, makes up the largest share of the EPA's Triangle workforce.

What they're saying: The EPA did not comment specifically on plans for its RTP campus.

• In a statement, agency spokesperson Molly Vaseliou said the EPA plans to make "organizational improvements."
• "While no decisions have been made yet," Vaseliou added, "we are actively listening to employees at all levels to gather ideas on how to better fulfill agency statutory obligations, increase efficiency and ensure the EPA is as up-to-date and effective as ever."

State of play: Reps. Deborah Ross and Valerie Foushee, Democrats who represent the Triangle in Congress, both have made pleas to EPA administrator Lee Zeldin to maintain ORD staffing.

• Zeldin has said he wants to make deep budget cuts at the EPA as part of the Trump administration's efforts to shrink the federal government.

• Both Foushee and Ross highlighted the office's work in a letter to the EPA, including research that has revealed the extent of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water in recent years.

• "Eliminating ORD willfully blinds the EPA to present environmental dangers and future environmental risks, and every American would be less safe because of it," Ross and Foushee wrote in their letter.

Link to full article: https://www.axios.com/local/raleigh/2025/04/02/worries-grow-that-cuts-could-come-to-the-epas-research-triangle-park-office