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There’s uncertainty surrounding the future of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency research lab with deep roots in Duluth, after a report this week that the Trump administration plans to close the agency’s research arm. 

The New York Times reported the agency plans to fire as many as 1,155 scientists — up to 75 percent of the staff who work for the EPA’s Office of Research and Development. That includes the Duluth lab, located across the road from Lake Superior on the far northeastern end of town. 

Science Committee Democratic staff in the U.S. House confirmed the reporting, and shared a portion of the proposed mass layoff plan known as a “reduction in force,” that said the agency planned to eliminate the research office. 

What that means for the Duluth lab, which became a part of the U.S. EPA in 1970, remains unclear. Asked about the facility’s future, an EPA spokesperson said the agency “is taking exciting steps as we enter the next phase of organizational improvements.” 

“We are committed to enhancing our ability to deliver clean air, water and land for all Americans. While no decisions have been made yet, 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.” 

The laboratory is a national leader in researching environmental toxicology and studying the effects of stressors on freshwater resources, including pesticides, bacteria and land use changes on the Great Lakes. 

“That laboratory has an amazing history,” said Carl Richards, who directed the lab from 2005 to 2015. “All of the states in the union utilize the water quality criteria that came out of that lab.”

In 2021, according to the EPA, the lab employed more than 130 people, and contributed $15 million to the local economy in wages, grants and contracts. 

Richards said the lab competes against universities around the country to recruit top scientists to the region. 

“That’s why it has such an international reputation for being one of the best laboratories for freshwater toxicology and environmental assessment in the world, which is really amazing for a somewhat out of the way place like Duluth.”

During a visit to Duluth Friday, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar said while the possible closure of the lab is strictly rumor at this point, she said closing the facility would be damaging to the country. 

“You’ve got to believe in science. And what bothers me is if our government stops believing in science, then what do we have, are we supposed to just look at Elon Musk tweets? I don’t think that’s what should guide us.”

Dan Kraker

Author

More than 100 people work at the U.S. EPA lab in Duluth. It’s part of the agency’s Office of Research and Development, which the Trump administration is targeting for possible large-scale layoffs. 

Fate of Duluth lab unclear amid reports of possible closure of EPA’s research arm

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