EPA Fires Another Scientist, Over Microplastic Monitoring
NEWS & RESEARCH
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fired environmental engineer Kip Tyler after he formally objected to the removal of a microplastics monitoring requirement from a permit for Ocean Era's Velella Epsilon, the first-ever fish farm proposed in US federal waters. While the aquaculture firm had agreed to the monitoring, top EPA officials struck the requirement to avoid a regulatory precedent for other industries. Tyler filed a dissenting scientific memo that subsequently became public during a legal challenge by environmental groups, prompting the agency to terminate him under claims of insubordination and attempting to embarrass the agency. He is now appealing his firing with the support of whistleblower advocates Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), arguing his dismissal was illegal retaliation. The EPA action highlights the gulf between the administration's "Make America Healthy Again" promise to curb microplastic pollution and its mission to roll back regulations on private industry. The EPA recently released a draft of a new drinking water monitoring plan that fails to include review of microplastics, despite calls from 176 organizations, seven governors and 14 attorneys general.
SOURCES: New York Times | PEER Press Release
ANALYSIS & OPINION
Despite pushback from dozens of state leaders, scientists, and advocacy groups, EPA has excluded microplastics from its draft Sixth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 6), which dictates drinking water testing from 2028 to 2030. The EPA defended its decision by stating that there is currently no validated, nationwide analytical method capable of reliably testing for microplastics in drinking water. However, public health advocates and researchers argue that omitting these contaminants—which are linked to potential cellular damage, cardiovascular issues, and toxic chemical additives—deprives scientists of the nationwide data necessary to assess exposure that might justify future regulations. While microplastics remain on the draft Contaminant Candidate List 6 (CCL 6) for future prioritization and are receiving funding through a federal research initiative, their exclusion from UCMR 6 means a coordinated federal monitoring program is unlikely to take effect until at least the next five-year regulatory cycle. As for Tyler’s case, firing dissenters at EPA is not uncommon. In 2025, 150 EPA employees signed an open letter in their personal capacities accusing EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin of abandoning science and environmental justice efforts and instilling a “culture of fear” at the agency. As if to confirm the culture of fear, EPA then fired 20 of the signers. Those dismissals are being contested before the Merit Systems Protection Board and in federal court.
SOURCES: Government Executive | Newsweek
HOW TO FIX IT
Federal action:
Pass the Microplastic Safety Act, directing the Food and Drug Administration to study the human health impacts of exposure to microplastics in food and water on: children’s health, the endocrine system, cancer, chronic illness, and reproductive health.
State action:
Support Oregon S.B. 551, which expands of the state’s 2019 plastics bags ban. Effective in 2027, this law will limit establishments from providing single-use plastic bags to consumers.
Support Illinois’ Small Single-Use Plastic Bottle Act (S.B. 2960), passed in 2024, prohibits hotels of certain sizes from providing customers with small bottles of “personal care products” (like shampoo and lotion).
Support California adding microplastics to the Toxic Substances Control’s Candidate Chemicals List, which allows California to target and regulate plastic-generating consumer goods
Reintroduce Minnesota’s S.F. 1389, to commission the study of the presence of microplastics in meat and poultry; Rhode Island’s S.B. 406 and H.B. 5492, both pushed for the creation of a state Microplastics Reduction Act, which would prohibit the sale or distribution of products containing synthetic polymer microparticles.
Litigation:
Support the judicial and administrative actions by whistleblowers such as Kip Tyler and 2025 signatories to the open letter who were retaliated against for dissenting against alleged EPA’s abandonment of science.
Legislation: H.R.4486 - Microplastics Safety Act | Or. S.B 551 | IL. S.B. 2960 | MN S.F. 1389 | R.I. S.B. 406 | R.I. H.B. 5492
