EPA Orders Water Scientists To Stop Publishing Findings; Agency Confirmed In July It Will Cut Research Arm

The Environmental Protection Agency has ordered scientists in at least one of its research offices to immediately pause almost all efforts to publish research, according to two agency employees familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Staff from the EPA’s Office of Water were summoned to a town hall meeting this week and instructed to halt work on most ongoing research papers, the two employees said. The researchers were told that unless scientific journals had already returned proofs — the final step in the academic publication process — the studies would be subject to a new review process, the employees said. The decision to reevaluate all manuscripts was made by political appointees, the two employees said.

EPA press secretary Brigit Hirsch denied that political appointees had ordered a review of research papers. After this article was published, she called it “false information that has been credibly refuted.” Hirsch said in an earlier statement that the agency will continue its work to protect human health and the environment. “Great scientific work is continuing at EPA like never before,” she said. “We are confident EPA has the resources needed to accomplish the agency’s core mission of protecting human health and the environment, fulfill all statutory obligations, and make the best-informed decisions based on the gold standard of science.”

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In July, the EPA announced plans to dismantle its scientific research branch, the Office of Research and Development, which had been tasked with conducting independent research to assess impacts on human health and the environment. The agency did not confirm how many staff members from the office were reassigned or terminated. In an earlier email, Hirsch said there are ongoing conversations with staff about their new responsibilities and how they align with the agency’s core mission.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/09/20/epa-scientists-research-publications/

https://wapo.st/42FJOtO