EPA shutters its scientific research arm, with hundreds of scientists expected to be impacted

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday afternoon that it is eliminating its scientific division, known as the Office of Research and Development.

The move to shutter the ORD comes one day after the agency said it was undergoing a reorganization involving several other EPA divisions. 

ORD conducts critical research to "safeguard human health and ecosystems from environmental pollutants," according to its website. More than 1,500 employees, including scientists and researchers, are dispersed across the country at 11 different locations, but the bulk are based at the EPA's headquarters in Washington, D.C., and at a large scientific facility in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.