How Does the EPA Affect CSU? An interview with Dr. Troy Keller

Troy Keller, Ph.D., is the recipient of the Great Lakes Restoration grant, an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funded grant, and a professor of earth and space sciences at Columbus State University.

The EPA is a government agency that works to protect human and environmental health, with a mission “to protect human health and the environment.” The EPA also provides money for the university to conduct research, including Keller’s.

Keller is concerned with the effects the current United States presidential administration could have on the EPA. The Trump administration started a freeze that began on EPA funds on Jan. 24 while they could audit the EPA’s spending habits.

Myron Ebell, who ran the EPA transition for Trump’s Administration, confirmed the freeze’s purpose to Propublica.org. “They’re trying to freeze things to make sure nothing happens they don’t want to have happen, so any regulations going forward, contracts, grants, hires, they want to make sure to look at them first.” Keller’s grant was unaffected by the freeze because the money for his project was allocated the previous fiscal year.

“The freeze was rescinded on Jan. 30, but that doesn’t mean CSU won’t be affected by the changes happening in the EPA,” Keller said. The EPA gives small pools of money to encourage projects that meet their long term goals. Every year, the EPA budgets money to give to states and other organizations for distribution.

Keller mentioned the problem with auditing the EPA is that their budget is spent on a variety of projects. For the government to audit everything the EPA does with their funds would be nearly impossible, because the EPA does not generally give money to individuals directly, explained Keller.

The EPA website used to include a list of the agency’s priorities, which has since been removed. Keller added that the EPA gives money to ensure that cleanups, brownfield identifications, and restoration are overseen and completed. According to the EPA website, their total budget for 2016 was just over $8 billion. Keller said that after the EPA’s total budget is spread across the entire United States, the money spent is merely a drop in the bucket.

“Scott Pruitt will return some sanity to the EPA,” was Georgia senator David Perdue’s response to the controversial confirmation of the new chief of the agency. “He understands the importance of protecting our country’s natural resources.” Pruitt sued the EPA several times as attorney general of Oklahoma, though he has stopped short of advocating the abolishment of the agency altogether, something several other lawmakers have proposed.

“Scott Pruitt is not a step in the right direction when it comes to protecting our natural resources,” Keller said. According to Keller, the effects of dissolving the EPA’s programs could be detrimental to CSU and its programs.

In 2014, CSU was able to take graduate level environmental science and business students to D.C. on a grant from the EPA. The EPA also provides funding to test the water we drink, which is conducted by Keller’s research lab. “Every time you take a sip of water from the tap, it’s regulated by the EPA,” Keller explained.

According to Keller, further cuts to the department will hurt students who studied environmental science. He said that certain opportunities in the field would dry up—hurting university-level environmental science and business departments. Although dramatic plans for cuts have not yet been announced, the uncertainty is leaving researchers like Keller in an uncomfortable position.