Twenty-four employees at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection got pink slips this week, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.
The employees who are in the Division of Water Resources Management received notices Monday and will be paid through December 14.
The Democrat quoted a DEP spokesman who said the department is being as “fiscally responsible as it can be and that staffing levels are reflected by the current workload and priorities.”
But it also quoted the director of an environmental group as saying the plan would benefit businesses in the “short run” but ultimately harm the environment. The Division of Water Resources Management works on issues such as beaches, mining and the Everglades.
