After the Trump administration terminated over $1.6 billion in EPA grants for environmental justice projects in early 2025, affected communities across the US have faced setbacks in addressing pollution and health risks. In places like East St. Louis, Illinois, planned air quality monitoring efforts were halted midway, leaving residents without vital data on local hazards. Groups are now seeking alternative funding or pursuing legal action amid tighter resources.
The Village of Sauget in St. Clair County, Illinois, has long been an industrial hub with relaxed environmental regulations, founded in 1926 by Monsanto executives and initially named after the company. Home to 134 residents and surrounded by a metro area of 700,000, it hosts polluters including Veolia Environmental Services, which has operated a hazardous waste incinerator since 1999, burning substances like PFAS amid complaints of foul odors.
A 1990s EPA study found elevated levels of lead, volatile organic compounds, and sulfur dioxide in the area, linked to higher cancer and respiratory risks. Children in nearby East St. Louis experience asthma rates far above the national average. Darnell Tingle of United Congregations of Metro-East (UCM), a coalition of local faith groups, noted that congregants suspect the incinerator contributes to illnesses, given the region's poor air quality.
In 2023, UCM secured a $500,000 Community Change Grant from the Biden-era EPA to install air monitors at six churches and analyze the data. However, in early 2025, the incoming Trump administration, led by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, withdrew the funding for 105 such grants totaling at least $1.6 billion, deeming them "unnecessary." Assisted by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the move also shuttered the Office of Environmental Justice, resulting in broader losses estimated at $37 billion.
Only two monitors were installed before the cutoff, and UCM lacks funds for analysis. A May CDC study in Sauget highlighted insufficient data, unable to link air pollutants definitively to health effects.
Zealan Hoover, a former Biden EPA advisor, praised the grants' direct approach to frontline needs, unlike state-distributed funds. The administration justified the cuts as ending the "green new scam" to prioritize energy production, per a White House fact sheet.
Impacts ripple nationwide: In Pocatello, Idaho, nitrate contamination persists without sewer upgrades; South Bronx flooding risks remain unmitigated; and South Dakota's Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe's $19.9 million plans for bridges, resilience hubs, and solar installations stalled.
Communities grieve the losses, Hoover said, citing disbelief turning to disappointment, as in Kipnuk, Alaska, where terminated flood prevention preceded a deluge. Responses vary: UCM seeks other funds; some litigate against the EPA; Flandreau closed its solar application. Rhonda Conn of Native Sun Community Power Development noted the scramble for scarcer resources, shifting focus to workforce training on lean budgets. "It's very stressful," she added, as competition intensifies for limited grants.
