LISA FRIEDMAN:

It's a significant brain drain in part because it does not seem that it is getting passed down to younger scientists. People are leaving and whereas in past years they might put in younger employees who had mentors within the agency and could learn from their experience and grow and become the experts themselves, that's happening less and less. Increasingly these positions are just gone. I think this is in part a reflection of morale – both I and reporters at ProPublica with whom I did this story, you know we talked to many many employees in the agency. Former employees said to us we have been here through Republican and Democrat administrations alike and we have never seen an atmosphere like this where we feel our work is so devalued. There are many people in the administration who vehemently dispute that characterization of course but the scientists and the EPA employees we talked to, said that part of the large number of buyouts reflects not only the ability to retire a little early but also a sense that they feel that they are not going to be able to accomplish their mission under this administration.