The termination includes the Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Center in Ada, which has undergone reductions-in-force in recent months.
The lab and facilities will remain in place and continue to be used by the EPA.
Probationary EPA employees have already undergone layoffs.
Scientists at the center study the nation's groundwater resources. Many of them have taken early retirement options or resigned, while others could be reassigned.
About 27 federal workers remain at the facility, according to Christine Pappas, professor and director of East Central University's water resource policy management master's program.
" Every Oklahoman should be extremely proud of the Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Center here in Ada," Pappas, who is in regular contact with workers at the lab, said. "And it's a gem for not only Ada, but for the whole state and for the country."
"For this to just be a senseless cut for a very low amount of money is affecting the future of science, probably forever, in the United States."
In a news release, the EPA announced the reductions in force and reorganization would result in nearly $750 million in savings nationwide. Administrator Lee Zeldin said the agency reexamined its operations to ensure it can protect the nation's health and environment.
"This reduction in force will ensure we can better fulfill that mission while being responsible stewards of your hard-earned tax dollars," he said in the release.
The center in Ada has ongoing research related to aquifers, PFAS pollution and more. The scientists were also developing technologies to remediate soil and groundwater contamination.
Pappas said some of her students were part of the cuts this year, which included an internship program. The early-career scientists feel demoralized, she said.
"We will never have new strategies for dealing with environmental ills if we don't have this state-of-the-art research happening to tell us what to do," Pappas said. "So, it's almost like expecting the body to act without having a brain."
During a May budget hearing with Zeldin, Oklahoma U.S. Rep. Tom Cole called the Ada facility a "premier EPA research center," and said he was concerned about its funding.
" I'm very proud to represent Kerr Environmental Research Center in Ada, Oklahoma," he said. "It's not a climate change research [agency], it's a water, groundwater research agency."
The center provides jobs to residents and partners with tribal nations, which he said is pivotal to maintaining trust between the federal government and Indigenous communities.
Still, Cole said the EPA budget was bloated and the agency was used inappropriately during the Biden administration.
The research lab's elimination is part of the Trump administration's broad objective to lean out the federal workforce and shift focus away from climate change research. Pappas said the remaining staff could be reassigned or transferred to the EPA's proposed Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions.
In an email, a spokesperson for the EPA said hundreds of employees nationwide had already been transferred to positions focused on air, water and chemical sciences.
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