‘Human capital crisis’ at EPA, retirement for 40% of staff

By Paul Bedard

Published June 18, 2019 1:37pm ET

In this Sept. 21, 2017, photo, a sign on a door of the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington. The EPA says it has recovered 517 containers of âunidentified, potentially hazardous materialâ from highly contaminated toxic waste sites in Texas that flooded last month during Hurricane Harvey. But the agency has not provided details about which Superfund sites the material came from, why the contaminants at issue have not been identified and whether thereâs a threat to human health. | (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

The Environmental Protection Agency is bleeding workers.

“I do have a concern absolutely. Forty percent of our workforce is eligible to retire over the next five years. While I don’t expect them all to retire in the next five years, I expect them to be gone in the next 10 years,” said Administrator Andrew Wheeler.