EPA grant cuts leave Philadelphia community projects at Bartram's Garden and elsewhere in limbo
Bartram's Garden, a 50-acre botanical garden and public park in Southwest Philadelphia, is dealing with the sudden loss of a $500,000 Environmental Protection Agency grant, which staff had planned to use to fund initiatives to improve the region's tree canopy and food security.
The grant, awarded last spring, was designed to fund 50 paid internships for young Philadelphians to plant trees in neighborhoods lacking greenery such as Kingsessing, Eastwick and Elmwood Park. It is also intended to provide 120 home garden beds to help underserved families grow their own food.
But last week, Bartram's Garden received a "stop work order" from the EPA.
"It said 'cease further operations on this grant,'" said Caroline Winschel, Bartram's Garden's director of development and communications.
Winschel said the projects are aimed at creating equity and public health in neighborhoods where heat often soars during the summer months. Winschel said it can be 20 degrees hotter in Southwest Philadelphia than in areas like Rittenhouse Square on the same day.
"You can imagine folks have to pay more on their utility bills. There are health impacts — chronic health conditions," she said.
Andrew Kreider, an environmental specialist for the EPA Region 3 office in Philadelphia, said the cuts aren't just impacting people who live in the city. He said a separate $1 million EPA grant aimed at targeting illegal dumping throughout Pennsylvania was also recently canceled.
"There have been dozens of EPA grants canceled just in the Mid-Atlantic region — and every resident of the city and every resident of the commonwealth is going to be affected," Kreider said.
Kreider was part of a public rally in late March in which EPA workers voiced their concerns about how the EPA's cuts under the Trump administration will hinder the agency's mission to protect human health and the environment. Kreider says he's never seen anything like this in the 28 years he has worked at the EPA.
"Never before has any administration gone through this sort of effort to terminate grants that are already legally awarded," he said.
A spokesperson for the EPA press office shared a statement with CBS News Philadelphia saying, "As with any change in Administration, the agency is reviewing each grant program to ensure it is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars and to understand how those programs align with Administration priorities."
The statement continued, "The agency determined that the grant application no longer supports Administration priorities and the award has been cancelled."
But Winschel said she's baffled that the agency doesn't prioritize initiatives she says are part of basic public health and job creation for young people in the community.
"The U.S. EPA is suggesting that those are not priorities," she said. "So I think it's important for people to understand what's at stake here in their neighborhoods."
Despite the challenges, Winschel said Bartram's Garden is committed to fulfilling its mission and completing the projects, even if they may have to be delayed a little while the team seeks alternative funding. Winschel also said in the next few weeks, staff will reach out to elected officials and said Bartram's Garden will file an appeal, which it has 21 days to do.
