The Trump administration has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to stop giving out federal grant money. A Connecticut environmental advocacy group is worried about what that could mean for projects in the region.
Curt Johnson, executive director of the Connecticut Fund for the Environment's Save the Sound program, says environmental advocates expected bad news, but they were surprised Trump moved so quickly.
“We hope it’s going to be very temporary. If it’s two weeks it’s not gonna be a problem. If it stretches into months, we’re talking about major impacts on clean air and clean water in the state of Connecticut and on Long Island Sound and across the country.”
Johnson says EPA grants pay for water quality testing at beaches, treating polluted stormwater, and many other programs.
“So if you’re a listener, and you care about raw sewage and polluted stormwater, or if you like to go to beaches and you want to be sure that your town knows what the bacteria level is at your beach, so you don’t get sick from raw sewage pollution, you want an EPA grant.”
National reports say the Trump administration has ordered the agency to break off all contact with the press.
The EPA didn’t respond to a request for comment.