A former regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 5 said the department was created during former President Richard Nixon’s administration to follow science, follow the law and be transparent.
Now, Debra Shore believes the agency and Administrator Lee Zeldin are doing the exact opposite.
“He’s ignoring the science,” she said. “He’s disregarding the law. He’s being duplicitous, and by that, I mean he’s saying one thing and then doing another, which is certainly not being transparent.”
On Monday, The New York Times reported that the EPA plans to stop considering health benefits when setting air pollution rules, specifically from curbing pollutants from fine particulate matter and ozone. The New York Times reviewed EPA emails and documents before publishing the article.
The change could repeal limits on pollutants from coal-burning power plants, oil refineries, steel mills and other industrial facilities nationwide, according to the outlet, which could lower costs for companies but result in dirtier air.
An EPA representative replied to the New York Times’ claims in a Friday email to the Post-Tribune.
“You should not rely on The New York Times as (a) reliable source of information,” the email said. “As usual, the premises of The New York Times’ headline and article were inaccurate – not only were they inaccurate, the body of the actual article proved they were false!”
The spokesperson also said the agency remains committed to its core mission to protect human health and the environment, adding that its mission guides all of its decisions.
“EPA, like the agency always has, is still considering the impacts that (fine particulate matter) and ozone emissions have on human health, but the agency will not be monetizing the impacts at this time,” the statement said. “If you had been paying attention at all, you would know that the Biden administration also didn’t monetize many air pollutants in their rules. No one questioned if they were following the agency’s core mission of protecting human health and the environment. Not monetizing DOES NOT equal not considering or not valuing human health impact. In every action, EPA applies the highest gold standard of science and analysis. The agency’s ongoing work to refine its economic methodologies demonstrates, not diminishes, its commitment to protecting human health and the environment through science-based decision-making.”
In February 2024, former President Joe Biden’s administration finalized a “significantly stronger air quality standard,” according to a 2024 EPA news release. The air quality change allowed 9 micrograms of fine particulate matter per cubic meter, which was a decrease from 12 micrograms of fine particulate matter per cubic meter.
At the time, the agency suggested that for every $1 spent from the action, there could be $77 in health benefits in 2032, according to the previous release.
If the EPA’s goal is to establish a new approach that doesn’t provide false confidence of monetized impacts, Shore believes that the agency should not disregard the positive benefits, but instead go to the National Academy of Sciences to establish an independent scientific review panel and come up with an analytical strategy.
“The prior system, which was not perfect, was done through EPA with many years of work and scientists and experts weighing in,” Shore said. “But instead, right now, their position is by not putting a dollar figure on the benefits, they’re hiding all the positive numbers and saying they’re not accurate, and all you see are the costs. That’s just a complete backflip on how the EPA is meant to work.”
The Environmental Protection Network, an agency made up of more than 700 former EPA staff and appointees, responded to the EPA’s reported changes, saying the decision is part of a pattern of ignoring or downplaying health effects in the rulemaking process.
“EPA’s current leadership has abandoned EPA’s mission to protect human health and safety,” an EPN statement said. “Human lives don’t count. Childhood asthma doesn’t count. It is a shameful abdication of EPA’s responsibility to protect Americans from harm. Under this administration, the Environmental Protection Agency is now the Environmental Pollution Agency, helping polluters at the expense of human health.”
Allan Halline, a retired physician in Ogden Dunes and member of Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, said he was “shocked and dismayed” when he read The New York Times’ report.
“To now simply ignore the health consequences of pollution and value a human life at $0, it’s just jaw-droppingly appalling,” Halline said. “It’s frightening to think that this is going to encourage industry to pollute at their own discretion and ignore any consequences in their decision-making.”
Halline believes the changes will have a “tremendous negative impact” on Northwest Indiana. Some immediate health consequences include exacerbations of asthma, emergency room visits, hospital visits and cardiovascular events, including sudden cardiac deaths.
In the long-term, Halline expects that the community will see an increase in cancers and chronic health effects.
“I think we’re going to look back in about 20 to 30 years and say, ‘Oh my gosh, we shouldn’t have done that,’” Halline said. “But it takes a long time to see those more chronic, adverse effects.”
The American Lung Association, in April 2025, announced that Hoosiers are breathing some of the nation’s most polluted air, according to Post-Tribune archives. The organization gave Lake County failing grades in three categories: ozone pollution, 24-hour particle pollution and annual particle pollution. Porter County only received a passing grade for annual particle pollution.
Ozone and particle pollution can cause premature death and other health effects, including asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes, preterm birth and impaired cognitive function, according to the American Lung Association. Particle pollution can also cause lung cancer, according to the organization.
The American Lung Association found that, in 2020, Indiana had a lung cancer rate of 72.5 per 100,000 people, with Lake County as one of the state’s counties with the highest cancer mortality rates. A 2016 report from the JAMA Network also found Gary as one of the five U.S. cities with the lowest life expectancy at one point.
Lisa Vallee, organizing director for Just Transition Northwest Indiana, said the EPA’s changes are going to continue benefitting companies that have polluted communities like those in Northwest Indiana.
“Knowing that companies that have been poisoning communities like mine are getting even more of a benefit from the EPA feels like a punch in the gut,” Vallee, who’s a Whiting resident, said. “I feel so bad for the people who have lived in these communities even longer than I have, who are dealing with illnesses and cancer.”
Vallee is most concerned by how the changes will increase pollution, and she’s worried that industrial companies will have free rein nationwide. She’s also upset that it seems that environmental rules are going backwards, and Vallee said she feels bad for the activists who have pushed for healthier communities, especially in Northwest Indiana.
Vallee also believes that states will follow what the federal government does, and she’s worried that state pollution oversight will also lessen.
“I have met so many wonderful people in Northwest Indiana who beg for better outcomes, tight restrictions and more government oversight,” Vallee said. “And instead, in this day and age, we’re getting laxer regulations and reduced restrictions. It’s heartbreaking, and I will not be shocked about anything else that comes down after this.”
The New York Times reported the EPA changes are not the first time that activists have been shocked by the agency’s deregulation. In March 2025, Zeldin announced in a news release that the EPA had the “biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history,” according to Post-Tribune archives, which included the reconsideration of power plant regulations, vehicle regulations and terminating environmental justice and diversity, equity and inclusion arms of the agency.
An internal memo to the EPA said Zeldin planned to reorganize and eliminate offices of environmental justice at all 10 regional offices and in Washington, D.C., according to Post-Tribune archives.
Gov. Mike Braun also signed two executive orders targeting the environment, including one to make state regulations consistent with national ones and another prohibiting the use of “environmental justice” in permitting, enforcement and grant decisions, according to Post-Tribune archives.
Even after the EPA’s changes, Shore said she’s surprised by the air pollution changes because she thought there was “a clear linkage” between regulations that have reduced ozone and fine particulate matter and improved public health.
“This sort of wholesale rejection of the foundational mission of the EPA, and its complete give away to oil, gas and polluting industries,” Shore said, “I think many of us didn’t anticipate or expect the outright rejection of the agency’s mission.”
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