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SEATTLE (May 17, 2024) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced PotlatchDeltic Land & Lumber, LLC, of St. Maries, Idaho, will pay $225,000 for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act. 

PotlatchDeltic sits within the Coeur d’ Alene Tribe’s reservation and discharges into a section of the St. Joe River that is Tribal waters. The St. Joe River flows into Lake Coeur d’ Alene and is critical habitat for bull trout. Under the Clean Water Act, PotlatchDeltic is required to comply with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits. 

EPA conducted an inspection in March 2017 to evaluate PotlatchDeltic’s compliance with its permits and found PotlatchDeltic had numerous stormwater violations, such as failure to implement corrective actions following continued benchmark exceedances and implement adequate stormwater pollution prevention plan controls. 

Stormwater runoff from lumber facilities containing zinc and other pollutants, when not treated and discharged directly into nearby waterbodies, can cause significant harm to rivers, lakes and coastal waters.  

PotlatchDeltic agreed to extensive remedies to come into and remain in compliance with its Clean Water Act permits, including facility improvements, construction of a new filtration system and combining its outfalls. 

PotlatchDeltic also agreed to perform two mitigation actions designed to protect and enhance habitat for trout and salmon in Hangman Creek on PotlatchDeltic’s property and within the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s reservation. Specifically, PotlatchDeltic will place a Conservation Easement on its property that will provide 100-year, no timber harvest stream buffers of 75-feet along more than 17,800 feet of shoreline for five streams, protecting about 61.25 acres.  PotlatchDeltic also agreed to replace four road culverts on its property that are currently blocking fish passage and limiting access to spawning habitat.  

“Industrial facilities must have stormwater pollution controls in place to protect our waters,” said EPA Region 10 Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Director Ed Kowalski. “We are pleased the company took swift action to improve their operations and prevent pollution — actions that will ultimately help our water quality in the Pacific Northwest.”   

COLUMBIA, SC (May 16, 2024) — As part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Community, Equity & Resiliency initiative, a groundbreaking effort to help communities across the nation navigate the EPA’s Inflation Reduction Act investments and other new funding opportunities made possible by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the EPA is hosting a national series of in-person, community-based Regional Roadshow events. On Monday, May 13, 2024, the roadshow stopped in Florence, SC. to provide local leaders opportunities to come together to develop or leverage community-based partnerships to implement local climate and environmental justice solutions. 

“EPA’s Regional Roadshow is critical in helping communities learn and cultivate ideas on how to access unprecedented EPA resources to confront the climate crisis and advance environmental justice.” said Theresa Segovia, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights. “We are so thankful that the communities in Florence, South Carolina have allowed us to share more about EPA’s opportunities, and we look forward to celebrating the work that’s already being done by local leaders and groups.”

“Ensuring that the unprecedented investments from the Inflation Reduction Act—a key component of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda—reach those most profoundly affected by climate and environmental challenges is of critical importance,” said Jennifer Macedonia, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Implementation for the Office of Air and Radiation. “Through EPA’s Community, Equity & Resiliency initiative and the Regional Roadshow events, we are equipping historically underserved communities with the essential resources, vital information, and unwavering support they need to create needed change.” 

“The Community, Equity & Resiliency initiative creates engagements that are designed to spark ideas on how to take advantage of Investing in America programs,” said Acting EPA Region 4 Administrator Jeaneanne Gettle. “The various sessions provided opportunities for local community leaders to leverage existing community-based partnerships and cultivate ideas on the Inflation Reduction Act and other programs.”

“It was an honor to host the CER Regional Roadshow for Region 4 in Florence, South Carolina. I believe the elements of this program will be a major tool in moving Florence forward and toward being a green city,” said Florence Mayor, Teresa Myers Ervin. “I would personally like to thank CER Regional Roadshow for providing resources for our citizens and neighboring communities, so that they may have access to resources to meet their individual goals.”

"As one of the Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (TCTAC) serving EPA Region 4 and the State of South Carolina, we were excited to co-sponsor this roadshow event," said Dr. Beverly Wright, Founder and Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. "The event was a great opportunity to share information about the technical assistance and training our Center offers to help community-based organizations seize this moment of opportunity to secure funding to accelerate their community vision for change."

Through this initiative, the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation and Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights are providing spaces for communities to develop new or deeper community-based partnerships. Regional Roadshow attendees will learn about historic funding and technical assistance through programming that is designed to be especially helpful for overburdened communities. These events will help them confront the climate crisis and advance environmental justice locally as they learn, connect, and cultivate ideas on how to access these extraordinary resources. 

Discover more and register for the Regional Roadshow event in Florence, SC.

Upcoming Regional Roadshow Events and Community, Equity & Resiliency Resources 

To learn more about the Community, Equity & Resiliency initiative, watch the Virtual Open House panel discussions and fireside chats, access resources to help communities and register for upcoming events, visit the EPA’s Community, Equity & Resiliency webpage.

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Today, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Basin Environmental Improvement Project Commission are celebrating decades of work to protect Silver Valley children from lead poisoning after the infamous 1973 Bunker Hill smelter baghouse fire, the worst lead poisoning event in U.S. history. The work has made the Silver Valley a much healthier place to live, work, and play.

For the last 50 years EPA and its partners – Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, Coeur d’Alene Tribe, Panhandle Health District, and the Basin Commission -- have cleaned up countless abandoned mines, treated and re-forested hundreds of acres of metals-laden hillsides, and removed millions of tons of contaminated soil from over 7,000 residential and school yards, play areas, roads, streambeds, and mine sites.

Over the last 50 years, average blood lead levels in children tested by Panhandle Health District have declined from about 67 to 2 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL), well below the Centers for Disease Control’s reference value of 3.5 (µg/dL). The work at the Bunker Hill Superfund Site is nowhere near complete but vast improvements have been made and should be celebrated.

Background: Fire at the Bunker Hill Baghouse

By September 3, 1973, when a fire disabled much of the main pollution control device on the Bunker Hill Mine’s lead smelter in Smelterville, Idaho, the “Silver Valley” had been grappling for almost 100 years with significant environmental and public health problems caused by the mining and processing of the region’s abundant metals.

Some companies attempted to protect workers from debilitating illnesses that were cutting short their careers and their lives. In fact, in its 2005 report on cleanup of the Bunker Hill Superfund Site, the National Academies of Science noted that “By 1920, Bunker Hill management realized that their smelter could be causing some health risks for its employees and initiated an unproven electrolytic treatment for removing the lead from their bodies.”

And for decades, Bunker Hill Mining Corporation -- the largest lead and zinc mine in the U.S. -- and other mining companies in the Silver Valley had been compensating downstream farmers for damage to crops and livestock. The mining companies also purchased “pollution easements” allowing them to discharge mine tailings directly into the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River and several of its tributaries.

After the baghouse fire was extinguished, the mine’s owner, Gulf Resources, determined that the financial benefits of continuing to operate the crippled smelter were greater than the legal risks of spewing huge amounts of lead and other pollutants into the community. According to the Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry, a division within CDC, the smelter poured an average of 73 tons of lead each month into Smelterville and surrounding Kellogg neighborhoods from September 1973 until August 1974 when it was shut down.

Unsurprisingly, a 1976 study conducted by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare in the months following the fire found that 99 percent of Smelterville children had blood lead levels at or above the CDC’s level of concern at the time. These were among the highest blood levels ever recorded.

Armed at the time with limited authorities, health and environmental agencies scrambled to stop dangerous waste and pollution management practices and simultaneously reduce kids’ exposures to lead soil and dust. The work had near immediate impacts: By 1981 only 19 percent of Smelterville children tested had blood lead levels that exceeded that era’s national average.

Despite effective work combatting the acute crisis in Smelterville and Kellogg, annual flooding events, development, ongoing mine and smelting operations, and even mine closures continued to inject more pollution into communities throughout the Silver Valley, repeatedly exposing children to dangerous levels of lead.

Of particular concern was the impact of acidic smelter emissions on the inability of the surrounding hillsides to grow vegetation after they’d been heavily logged to build the mines, towns, and railroads. The denuded unfertile hillsides had become little more than enormous deposits of metals-laden soil with nothing to keep it in place during the yearly spring floods that regularly inundated and contaminated downstream communities like Wallace and Kellogg.

In 1983, EPA listed the Bunker Hill Mining and Metallurgical Complex as a Superfund site. Expanded in 2002, the BHSS includes environmental cleanup and restoration work in areas contaminated by mining waste in the Coeur d’Alene River Watershed totaling about 1,500 square miles. It is one of the largest Superfund sites in the nation.

Armed with a spate of new environmental statutes, state and federal agencies took on the problem, removing wastes from countless abandoned mines, treating and re-foresting the denuded hillsides, and placing millions of tons of contaminated soil into repositories where it is securely stored and monitored. Previously acidic streams once devoid of life now host abundant fish populations and nurse the trees and shrubs that stabilize their banks and reduce dangerous flooding.

Panhandle Health District’s Kellogg office has conducted free annual blood lead testing to help identify children with elevated blood lead levels and determine how they’re being exposed to lead. The EPA and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality focus their cleanup efforts on properties with high lead levels that pose the greatest risk to children. So far, EPA has removed leaded soils from over 7,000 properties throughout the Silver Valley.

Ultimately, the 1973 baghouse fire set in motion an enormous amount of work to mitigate the devastating impacts that mining and smelting had had on the environment and the health of the people in the Silver Valley and downstream communities. That work has protected generations of children from elevated blood lead levels and transformed much of the landscape that contributed to the public health risks confronted by the region’s residents.

WASHINGTON - Today, May 15, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a final rule to make annual drinking water quality reports more understandable and accessible to the public. These reports are an important tool that drinking water systems use to inform residents about water quality and any contaminants that have been found in the water. Starting in 2027, this final rule will ensure that these reports are easier to read and support access to translations in appropriate languages while enhancing information about lead in drinking water. EPA is also taking steps to streamline the delivery of reports by encouraging electronic methods.

“EPA is taking action today to help ensure that the American public has improved access to information about the drinking water in their communities by strengthening requirements for annual drinking water quality reports,” said acting Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Water Bruno Pigott. “Today's announcement will ensure these reports are easier to understand, and easier to access in additional languages to provide all people with the information they want and need about their water.”

The final rule will support public education by more clearly communicating important information in water quality reports and improving access to the reports. Water systems are currently required to provide annual drinking water reports to customers each year, and with this rule systems serving over 10,000 customers will be required to distribute reports twice per year. The final rule also introduces a new reporting requirement that will provide EPA with better information to make decisions on oversight, enforcement, regulatory revisions, and training and technical assistance. Today’s final rule will require states to submit compliance monitoring data they already receive from public water systems to EPA annually. 

Learn more about EPA’s Revised Consumer Report Rule, including upcoming webinars and fact sheet that provides more detail on the new requirements.

Background

A Consumer Confidence Report, sometimes called a “Drinking Water Quality Report,” summarizes information about the local drinking water. As part of the America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018, Congress instructed EPA to revise the Consumer Confidence Report Rule. Today’s final rule will support the goal of the Safe Drinking Water Act “right-to-know” provisions by improving the Consumer Confidence Reports so that people can make better decisions about their drinking water. EPA’s final rule will work to further that goal by making sure important information in annual reports are accurate and accessible.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is accepting public comment on its proposed plan to reduce the amount of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in the Spokane River basin.

PCBs in surface water readily accumulate in aquatic organisms, meaning even small amounts in the environment can pose health problems for people who consume fish.

The agency’s plan establishes a Total Maximum Daily Load for PCBs-- often referred to as a pollution budget – to protect human health and aquatic life along the Spokane and Little Spokane rivers of Washington and highlights the need to continue to reduce PCBs from both industries and communities in the Spokane Valley.

While PCBs were banned in 1979, they were widely used by multiple industries to lubricate and cool equipment and some of that equipment, like electrical transformers manufactured before the ban, are sources of the chemicals found in the 100 river miles of the Spokane River watershed. 

For more information on how to comment on the draft plan, go to: https://www.epa.gov/tmdl/spokane-river-pcb-tmdls

EPA will be issuing the final Spokane River TMDL for PCBs by September 30, 2024.

LENEXA, KAN. (MAY 15, 2024) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the court approval of a settlement agreement with 36 private parties and three federal agencies for payment of EPA’s past and future cleanup costs at the Missouri Electric Works Superfund Site in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

The settlement agreement is issued under the authority of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund.

Under the terms of the settlement, the polluting private parties will pay $6,074,739 and the federal agencies, also responsible for pollution, will pay $600,798 to the United States to satisfy EPA’s past and future cleanup costs. Additionally, the private parties will pay $625,261 and the federal agencies will pay $61,839 to the state of Missouri in settlement of state response costs.

The site is an approximately 6.4-acre parcel, located in Cape Girardeau, at which the former Missouri Electric Works Inc. sold, serviced, and remanufactured transformers and other equipment containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Releases of PCBs and volatile organic compounds from the facility resulted in soil and groundwater contamination at the site. EPA has been overseeing investigation and cleanup at the site since the 1980s.

EPA designated the property as a Superfund site in 1990. Under Superfund, EPA enforces the “polluter pays” principle, which holds responsible parties accountable for cleanup and reimbursement of EPA’s oversight costs throughout a contaminated site’s history.

For more information, visit the Missouri Electric Works Superfund Site Profile page.

Learn more about the Superfund program.

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NEW YORK (May 14, 2024) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a final legal agreement with Kyocera AVX Components Corp. (KAVX) to clean up contaminated soil that was under the former AVX manufacturing building at the Olean Well Field Superfund Site in Olean, New York. The cleanup work has an estimate value of about $2.4 million. Under the agreement, the company will also pay some past and all future EPA oversight costs. The site includes several former industrial facilities that left the soil and groundwater contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs). EPA has overseen work to cleanup soil and groundwater throughout the site. 

“This settlement allows us to address an important source of contamination and it ensures that the polluter is being held responsible for cleaning up contamination in this community,” said EPA Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia.

On September 27, 2023, EPA finalized a cleanup plan for the portion of the site owned by KAVX. The plan will address soil contamination located under and near a former manufacturing building on the KAVX property.

Under the plan, KAVX will:

• Demolish and remove the concrete slab floor and foundation.
• Dig out the polluted soil that is above the water table.
• Take the dug-out material off-site for disposal in appropriate facilities.
• Restore the area with clean fill.

The Olean Well Field site is an approximately 1.5 square-mile area in Cattaraugus County that contains various wells, homes, and manufacturing facilities. Earlier industrial operations at the AVX property, as well as at three other facilities that EPA considers sources of site contamination, resulted in the contamination of soil and groundwater with trichloroethylene, 1,4-dioxane, and other volatile organic compounds. As a result of the contamination at all four facilities, EPA added the site to the Superfund list in 1983. Since that time, EPA has taken steps to ensure clean public drinking water and to cleanup the four source facilities impacting soil and groundwater. Most of the work is being carried out by parties responsible for contamination at the site.

Before being finalized, the agreement, in the form of a judicial consent decree, was made available for a required 30-day public comment period.  No comments were received on the agreement.

Visit the Olean Well Field Superfund site profile page for additional background and site documents.

Follow EPA Region 2 on X and visit our Facebook page. For more information about EPA Region 2, visit our website.

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Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator and U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton (VA-10) celebrated the significant progress made in addressing contamination and restoring safe drinking water at the Hidden Lane Landfill Superfund site in Sterling, Virginia.  

EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz with Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton and Loudoun County Supervisor Juli Briskman.

Thanks to more than $22 million made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the event marked the EPA’s aggressive remediation efforts in removing the TCE source area and preparing for installing a new waterline that will provide more than 110 homes with safe drinking water.   

"The EPA is committed to safeguarding our environment and communities," said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. "Thanks to resources provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the EPA and its partners have accelerated cleanup efforts at the Hidden Lane Landfill Superfund site to remove contaminants and provide safe drinking water. This incredible progress demonstrates the EPA's promise to remove contamination, revitalize communities and local economies, and deliver on our mission to protect public health and the environment." 

Loudoun County Supervisor Juli Briskman, community members and representatives from federal, state and local partners also joined the two officials.  

“I’m proud that thanks to our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we’re taking long-awaited action to clean up the Hidden Lane Superfund site in Sterling," said U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton (VA-10). "This will make our community healthier and safer. I applaud the efforts currently underway here by the EPA and state and local agencies to remove toxic substances from the soil and groundwater, including the dangerous chemical TCE which has been tied to Parkinson’s Disease. I look forward to continuing to support this cleanup in any way that I can." 

The historic BIL funding invested $3.5 billion in Superfund cleanups across the country, dramatically empowering the EPA to address legacy pollution and protect public health and surrounding communities. The final wave of funding was announced in February. 

Altogether, the Hidden Lane Landfill Superfund site received: 

• Approximately $5 million for TCE source area cleanup 
• Approximately $17 million for the installation of a new public waterline 

Excavation at the site started Feb. 20 and is set to finish later this year. Construction on the waterline is also expected to begin later this year.  

The Hidden Lane Landfill Superfund site, located between the Broad Run Farms and CountrySide communities, was added to the National Priorities List in 2008. 

Community members can email r3-hidden.lane@epa.gov with questions or concerns about the cleanup process.  

Visit the Hidden Lane Landfill Superfund site profile page for more information.

EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz speaking at a podium.

EPA, DEQ, Panhandle Health to celebrate 50 years of protecting children from lead poisoning

On Wednesday May 15, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Basin Environmental Improvement Project Commission will host an event at Silver Mountain Resort in Kellogg highlighting decades of work to protect Silver Valley children from lead poisoning after the infamous 1973 Bunker Hill smelter baghouse fire, the worst lead poisoning event in U.S. history. The work has made the Silver Valley a much healthier place to live, work and play.

For the last 50 years EPA and its partners – Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, Coeur d’Alene Tribe, Panhandle Health District, and the Basin Commission -- have cleaned up countless abandoned mines, treated and re-forested hundreds of acres of metals-laden hillsides, and removed millions of tons of contaminated soil from over 7,000 residential and school yards, play areas, roads, streambeds and mine sites.

Over the last 50 years, average blood lead levels in children tested by Panhandle Health District have declined from about 67 to 2 micrograms per deciliter (μg/dL), well below the Centers for Disease Control’s reference value of 3.5 (μg/dL). The work at the Bunker Hill Superfund Site is nowhere near complete but vast improvements have been made and should be celebrated.

Please join EPA, IDEQ, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, PHD, and the Basin Commission Wednesday May 15 from 4:00 -7:00 PM at Noah’s Loft at the Silver Mountain Resort, 610 Bunker Avenue in Kellogg
as we celebrate hard-won battles in the 50 years long (and counting!) war against lead in the Silver Valley and the Coeur d’Alene Basin.

The commemoration follows the regular quarterly meeting of the BEIPC which reviews upcoming remediation and restoration plans, and previous workplans. The May 15 meeting will also highlight water quality improvements made over the last 30 years.

Background: Fire at the Bunker Hill Baghouse

September 3, 1973, when a fire disabled much of the main pollution control device on the Bunker Hill Mine’s lead smelter in Smelterville, Idaho, the “Silver Valley” had been grappling for almost 100 years with significant environmental and public health problems caused by the mining and processing of the region’s abundant metals.

Some companies attempted to protect workers from debilitating illnesses that were cutting short their careers and their lives. In fact, in its 2005 report on cleanup of the Bunker Hill Superfund site, the National Academies of Science noted that “By 1920, Bunker Hill management realized that their smelter could be causing some health risks for its employees and initiated an unproven electrolytic treatment for removing the lead from their bodies.”

And for decades, Bunker Hill Mining Corporation -- the largest lead and zinc mine in the U.S. -- and other mining companies in the Silver Valley had been compensating downstream farmers for damage to crops and livestock. The mining companies also purchased “pollution easements” allowing them to discharge mine tailings directly into the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River and several of its tributaries.

After the baghouse fire was extinguished, the mine’s owner, Gulf Resources, determined that the financial benefits of continuing to operate the crippled smelter were greater than the legal risks of spewing huge amounts of lead and other pollutants into the community. According to the Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry, a division within CDC, the smelter poured an average of 73 tons of lead each month into Smelterville and surrounding Kellogg neighborhoods from September 1973 until August 1974 when it was shut down.

Unsurprisingly, a 1976 study conducted by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare in the months following the fire found that 99% of Smelterville children had blood lead levels at or above the CDC’s level of concern at the time. These were among the highest blood levels ever recorded.

Armed at the time with limited authorities, health and environmental agencies scrambled to stop dangerous waste and pollution management practices and simultaneously reduce kids’ exposures to lead soil and dust. The work had near immediate impacts: By 1981 only 19% of Smelterville children tested had blood lead levels that exceeded that era’s national average.

Despite effective work combatting the acute crisis in Smelterville and Kellogg, annual flooding events, development, ongoing mine and smelting operations, and even mine closures continued to inject more pollution into communities throughout the Silver Valley, repeatedly exposing children to dangerous levels of lead.

Of particular concern was the impact of acidic smelter emissions on the inability of the surrounding hillsides to grow vegetation after they’d been heavily logged to build the mines, towns, and railroads. The denuded unfertile hillsides had become little more than enormous deposits of metals-laden soil with nothing to keep it in place during the yearly spring floods that regularly inundated and contaminated downstream communities like Wallace and Kellogg.

In 1983, EPA listed the Bunker Hill Mining and Metallurgical Complex as a Superfund site. Expanded in 2002, the BHSS includes environmental cleanup and restoration work in areas contaminated by mining waste in the Coeur d’Alene River Watershed totaling about 1,500 square miles. It is one of the largest Superfund sites in the nation.

Armed with a spate of new environmental statutes, state and federal agencies took on the problem, removing wastes from countless abandoned mines, treating and re-foresting the denuded hillsides, and placing millions of tons of contaminated soil into repositories where it is securely stored and monitored. Previously acidic streams once devoid of life now host abundant fish populations and nurse the trees and shrubs that stabilize their banks and reduce dangerous flooding.

Panhandle Health District’s Kellogg office has conducted free annual blood lead testing to help identify children with elevated blood lead levels and determine how they’re being exposed to lead. The EPA and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality focus their cleanup efforts on properties with high lead levels that pose the greatest risk to children. So far, EPA has removed leaded soils from over 7,000 properties throughout the Silver Valley.

Ultimately, the 1973 baghouse fire set in motion an enormous amount of work to mitigate the devastating impacts that mining and smelting had had on the environment and the health of the people in the Silver Valley and downstream communities. That work has protected generations of children from elevated blood lead levels and transformed much of the landscape that contributed to the public health risks confronted by the region’s residents.

Bunker Hill smelter before cleanup Bunker Hill smelter after cleanup  

STRATFORD, CONN. (May 14, 2024) – Yesterday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's New England Regional Administrator David W. Cash joined members of the Connecticut Congressional delegation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the Mayor of Stratford, and local community members to highlight the significant progress made at the Raymark Industries, Inc. Superfund Site under funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

"This unprecedented funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has allowed EPA and its partners to deliver on our promise to protect the community from legacy contamination, as well as cleanup and restore land for reuse in Stratford," said EPA New England Regional Administrator David W. Cash. "Though there's still a long road ahead of us, we're looking forward to continuing full steam ahead, restoring additional properties and bringing the Raymark cleanup to completion."

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for the Stratford, Connecticut site propelled the cleanup forward, thus far EPA and its partners have been able to complete the following activities:

• More than 100,000 cubic yards of contamination excavated and removed;
• 28 properties cleaned up and restored, including 12 active businesses;
• 1/3 of a mile of Ferry Creek cleaned up and working to restore the natural habitat by planting over an acre of wetland seed, live stakes, and nearly 1,000 trees and shrubs;
• More than 10,000 air samples collected from 9 monitoring stations to confirm the air remained safe;
• Provided 30 to 50 jobs each workday including engineers, scientists, machine operators, laborers and truck drivers.

Officials took a tour of the remediated properties to view the progress and participated in a roundtable conversation with local community members to discuss the positive impacts that the cleanup has had on the town. EPA Regional Administrator Cash and partners also conducted a ceremonial removal of a Public Health Advisory sign which had been posted decades ago to warn against exposure to Raymark contamination in the upstream portion of Ferry Creek but is no longer needed now that this portion of the creek has been cleaned up.

What They Are Saying

"Thanks to $113 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Stratford's Raymark Superfund site is being transformed from a perilously polluted old industrial site to a healthy, economically viable property," said U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal. "Under the EPA's leadership, dangerous levels of pollution and contamination have been removed, natural wetland and woodland habitats have been restored, and 28 properties have been remediated. I am thrilled to see strong federal resources in action here in Stratford, and I will keep fighting for additional funding to complete these transformative projects across Connecticut."

"The progress made toward cleaning up the Raymark Superfund Site would not have been possible without the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 100,000 cubic yards is a big milestone, and it's great to see the EPA invested in making sure the project is completed. This cleanup will restore the natural habitat, bring good-paying jobs to Stratford, and, most importantly, give families and local businesses peace of mind for years to come," said U.S. Senator Chris Murphy.

"This is a great day for the Town of Stratford and the many residents and business owners who have been impacted by Raymark and though we still have work to do, I am so glad to see the incredible progress with the remediation work that has been completed to date," said U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro, CT-03. "I was proud to support the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for many reasons, and the $3.5 billion allocated for Superfund cleanup work was one, knowing what an impact it could make here in Stratford. Most importantly, this project is ensuring the remediation of environmental hazards, but with that has also come additional stormwater infrastructure that will have an impact for the entire community. We started this process with some very difficult challenges -- the partnership and trust that has been built between the community, the EPA, and DEEP has been hard won, and in working together real improvement is being realized."

"Connecticut DEEP applauds the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its partnership in the cleanup of Raymark waste material from various parcels in southern Stratford," said Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes. "These efforts, made possible through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, have resulted in the removal of 100,000 cubic yards of Raymark waste from commercial properties, inland wetlands, coastal areas, and tidal wetlands. This incredible federal state, and local partnership is getting the job done as these historically contaminated sites are being properly remediated and restored to become places that will be safer to recreate in and utilized for positive re-use."

"First and foremost, I would like to recognize the EPA and its administrators over the years for understanding the importance and for continuing to advocate for the full scope of this remediation project. The EPA has championed moving the remediation forward in many ways, and I am grateful for the initial $95 million appropriated and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that continued to fund the collaborative efforts of the EPA and Stratford in the remediation process," said Stratford Mayor Laura R. Hoydick. I would also like to acknowledge our Health Director, Andrea Bossevain, and Health Program Associate, Alivia Coleman, for their dedication to such a substantial project. Andrea has spent 33+ years overseeing the partnership on this between the Town and the EPA, first as a consultant and then as our Health Director, and for the past ten years Alivia has worked with the EPA to ensure the project continues to run smoothly and efficiently. I am very proud of the progress that has been made as we work towards completing this critically important remediation. I would also like to thank Andrea, Alivia, and Stratford's departments, and the EPA, for their transparency and thoughtful communication with our residents throughout the process. We are fortunate to have a fantastic team making great strides while always keeping the public's health as a top priority. I am also grateful and thankful to Stratford's residents who have lived with the scars of Raybestos and who have continued to work with the federal, state and local governments through the long length of this project."

Background

The 34-acre Stratford site, added to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1995, was the location of the Raymark Industries, Inc., a manufacturer of automotive breaks, clutch parts, and other friction components. Raymark operated at this location from 1919 until 1989 when operations ceased, leaving behind contamination in area soil, sediment, surface water and groundwater that consisted of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), asbestos, lead, copper, and about a dozen other chemical compounds known to be carcinogenic or otherwise toxic to human health and the environment. The Raymark manufacturing waste was historically discharged to a series of unlined lagoons allowing chemicals to seep into the groundwater and overflow to a nearby creek. Periodically, sludge was removed from these lagoons and disposed of as fill on the former facility property. Over time, this waste material was given away as free fill used within the Town of Stratford at a minimum of 46 residential properties and over two dozen other commercial, recreational and municipal properties. In addition, several wetland areas near the Housatonic River were also filled in with Raymark's manufacturing waste.

In 1980, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund, was passed. The novel law gave EPA the authority and funds to hold polluters accountable for cleaning up the most contaminated sites across the country. When no viable responsible party is found or cannot afford the cleanup, funds appropriated by Congress are used. A tax on chemical and petroleum industries provided funds to the Superfund Trust fund for Superfund cleanups up until the taxing authority expired in 1995. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law reinstated the chemical excise taxes and invested an additional $3.5 billion in environmental remediation at Superfund sites, making it one of the largest investments in American history to address the legacy pollution that harms human health and the environment of communities and neighborhoods.

More information:

Raymark Industries, Inc. Superfund Site webpage: epa.gov/superfund/raymark

LENEXA, KAN. (MAY 14, 2024) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of $2,883,000 in funding through the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant program to help communities address stormwater and sewer infrastructure needs in Region 7. Safely managing stormwater is critical to preventing contaminants, including untreated sewage, from polluting waterways.

EPA’s grant funding is available to states to support projects in cities and towns that will strengthen their stormwater collection systems to be more resilient against increasingly intense rain events made worse by the climate crisis.

Funding allotments available to Region 7 states are as follows:

• Iowa: $326,000
• Kansas: $461,000
• Missouri: $1,567,000
• Nebraska: $529,000

“This funding is an opportunity for small and financially struggling communities to obtain no-cost grants for critical stormwater and sewer system needs,” said EPA Region 7 Administrator Meg McCollister. “No-cost grants help to ensure that upgrade prices do not get passed on to utility customers, and that’s a win for our community members.”

When rain and floodwaters overrun sewer and stormwater systems, they bypass treatment and transport pollution and sewage directly into creeks, streams, and rivers. These untreated discharges threaten human health, economic prosperity, and ecological function.

Stormwater management is a complex challenge for communities across the country. Through changes made by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this grant program will prioritize stormwater infrastructure projects in small and/or financially distressed and disadvantaged communities and prevent cost-share requirements from being passed on to these communities.

Additional funding for stormwater and wastewater upgrades is available through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program. Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA is providing $11.7 billion to states to upgrade wastewater infrastructure through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. Additionally, the seventh round of EPA’s WIFIA financing is available – with $6.5 billion through WIFIA and $1 billion through the State infrastructure financing authority WIFIA (SWIFIA) program.

EPA is currently accepting letters of interest for WIFIA and SWIFIA, a loan program exclusively for state infrastructure financing authority borrowers. Learn more about submitting a letter of interest for a WIFIA loan. 

These programs advance President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which sets a goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, and other investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.

Learn more about the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant program.

Background

Stormwater can be a significant source of water pollution and a public health concern. It can collect various pollutants, including trash, chemicals, oils, and dirt/sediment, and convey them to nearby waterways. When mixed with domestic and industrial wastewater in combined sewers, stormwater can also contribute to combined sewer overflows during heavy storm events.

EPA is working with local and state partners to leverage the resources of the federal government to meet the needs of these communities. In the past, states and communities shared a fixed portion of the costs associated with all projects funded through the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant program. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law changed the program so that 25% of its funds go to available projects in small and/or financially distressed communities; it also limited states’ abilities to pass on the burden of cost sharing to these communities.

To encourage investment in these critical projects, EPA modified the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant program so that state grantees are not required to contribute cost-share money for program projects located in small or financially distressed communities. However, grant portions that go to communities other than small or financially distressed ones will include a cost-share requirement.

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WASHINGTON – Yesterday, May 13, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency transmitted a report to Congress outlining clean water infrastructure investments—including wastewater and stormwater system upgrades—that are needed over the next 20 years. Through the Clean Watersheds Needs Survey, states and U.S. territories report on future capital costs or investment needs to maintain and modernize publicly owned wastewater treatment works, stormwater infrastructure, nonpoint source control, and decentralized wastewater treatment systems like septic tanks. These investments are essential to supporting the Clean Water Act’s goal that our nation’s waters are fishable and swimmable.

 The 2022 survey represents the most recent comprehensive and robust report on wastewater, stormwater, and other clean water infrastructure needs in the U.S., and shows that at least $630 billion will be needed over the next 20 years to protect our nation’s waterbodies. 

“Protecting our nations waterways is vital for healthy communities. They provide sources of drinking water, support farming, power economic opportunity and transport and allow for recreation and fishing,” said Acting Assistant Administrator for Water Bruno Pigott. “This survey is an important estimate of needs that is based on information collected from the communities themselves. President Biden has secured the largest investments in history for water infrastructure, putting America in a strong position to help local systems protect our nation’s water quality.”

EPA has many federal funding resources available for communities and utilities to improve vital drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides a historic $50 billion investment in upgrading critical water infrastructure – with almost $13 billion going to wastewater and stormwater management. EPA’s Clean Water State Revolving fund has supported over $160 billion in infrastructure since its inception in 1987, and EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program has issued over $43 billion in financing for water infrastructure projects since 2018.

 Learn more about the survey and access the interactive dashboard.

Background

 This is the 17th survey conducted since the passage of the Clean Water Act over 50 years ago. The last survey was conducted in 2012. Along with the needs data, the survey also collected technical data from all existing treatment facilities (e.g., flow, population served, effluent level, etc.). As of January 2022, there are 17,544 POTWs serving 270.4 million Americans, or 82% of the population. This information can be viewed and downloaded on the CWNS website.

NEW YORK  – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced $28.6 million from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to help Puerto Rico identify and replace lead service lines to prevent exposure to lead in drinking water. Lead can cause a range of serious health impacts, including irreversible harm to brain development in children. To protect children and families, President Biden has committed to replacing every lead pipe in the country. Today’s announcement, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and available through EPA’s successful Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, takes another major step to advance this work and environmental justice, and bolsters the Administration’s Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan and EPA’s Get the Lead Out Initiative.

Working collaboratively, EPA and the State Revolving Funds are advancing the President’s Justice40 Initiative as lead exposure disproportionately affects communities of color and low-income families. The total funding announced through this program to date is expected to replace up to 1.7 million lead pipes nationwide, securing clean drinking water for countless families.

“The science is clear, there is no safe level of lead exposure, and the primary source of harmful exposure in drinking water is through lead pipes,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “President Biden understands it is critical to identify and remove lead pipes as quickly as possible, and he has secured significant resources for states and territories to accelerate the permanent removal of dangerous lead pipes once and for all.”

“Every Puerto Rican family deserves safe drinking water when they turn on their tap and this major injection of funding will further bolster the work to achieve that goal,” said EPA Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia. “For too long, the urgent need to improve our drinking water systems has far outweighed the available funding. This crucial Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding is helping close that gap.”

"The continued exposure to lead in drinking water is a serious health risk to individuals, especially children. I am pleased that Puerto Rico will be receiving $28.6 million in funding for lead water service line replacement under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.  This funding through the State Revolving Fund (SRF) helps us to move forward in addressing the pressing issue of aging infrastructure and safeguarding the health of our residents,” said U.S. Representative Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon. “By replacing these outdated lines, we are improving water quality and protecting our communities' well-being for generations to come. I am proud to have been part of the effort to craft and pass the BIL as a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. As we move forward, I remain dedicated to advocating for additional investments in Puerto Rico's infrastructure to address longstanding challenges and build a more resilient future for all."

President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests a historic $15 billion to identify and replace lead service lines. The law mandates that 49% of funds provided through the DWSRF General Supplemental Funding and DWSRF Lead Service Line Replacement Funding must be provided as grants and forgivable loans to disadvantaged communities, a crucial investment for communities that have been underinvested in for too long. EPA projects a national total of 9 million lead services lines across the country, based on data collected from the updated 7th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment. The funding announced today will be provided specifically for lead service line identification and replacement and will help every state and territory fund projects to remove lead pipes and reduce exposure to lead from drinking water. This Lead Service Line-specific formula allows states to receive financial assistance commensurate with their need as soon as possible, furthering public health protection nationwide. To ensure that funding is used for lead service line related activities, LSLR allotments are based on need — meaning that states with more projected lead service lines receive proportionally more.

Alongside the funding announced today, EPA is also releasing a memorandum that clarifies how states can use this and other funding to most effectively reduce exposure to lead in drinking water. Additionally, EPA has developed new outreach documents to help water systems educate their customers on drinking water issues, health impacts of lead exposure, service line ownership, and how customers can support the identification of potential lead service lines in their homes.

The Biden-Harris Administration’s ambitious initiative to remove lead pipes has already delivered significant results for families across the nation. Today’s latest funding will ensure more Puerto Rican families benefit from these unprecedented resources and support projects like these:

• The Puerto Rico Department of Health’s project will utilize funds to further the health protection objectives of the Safe Drinking Water Act. This agreement will provide funds to replace lead drinking water service lines and help identify the planning, design and replacement of service lines of customer-owned and PRASA-owned service lines. The Department of Health will also use this funding to provide technical assistance to state program managers and small water system administrators.

To view more stories about how the unprecedented investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are transforming communities across the country, visit EPA’s Investing in America’s Water Infrastructure Story Map. To read more about some additional projects that are underway, see EPA’s recently released Quarterly Report on Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funded Clean Water and Drinking Water SRF projects and explore the State Revolving Funds Public Portal.  

Today’s allotments are based on EPA’s updated 7th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment including an assessment of the one-time update submissions. To date, this is the best available data collected and assessed on service line materials in the United States. Later this summer, EPA will release an addendum to the 7th DWINSA Report to Congress, which will include the updated lead service line projections. EPA anticipates initiating data collection, which will include information on lead service lines, for the 8th DWINSA in 2025.

For more information, including state-by-state allotment of 2024 funding and a breakdown of EPA’s lead Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, please visit EPA’s Drinking Water website.

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Puerto Rico recibirá $28.6 millones para reemplazar tuberías de plomo para lograr agua potable segura

La EPA anuncia la última ronda de financiamiento del compromiso del presidente Biden para reemplazar todas las tuberías de plomo del país, protegiendo así la salud pública y ayudando a abastecer agua potable segura

Contacto: Iris M. Crawford (Crawford.iris@epa.gov) 347-908-3374

NUEVA YORK – Hoy, la Agencia de Protección Ambiental de Estados Unidos (EPA, por sus siglas en inglés) anunció la asignación de $28.6 millones de la agenda Invertir en Estados Unidos del presidente Biden para ayudar a Puerto Rico a identificar y reemplazar las tuberías de plomo para prevenir la exposición al plomo en el agua potable. El plomo puede causar una serie de graves efectos en la salud, incluido el daño irreversible al desarrollo cerebral de los niños. Para proteger a los niños y las familias, el presidente Biden se ha comprometido a reemplazar todas las tuberías de plomo del país. El anuncio de hoy, financiado por la Ley Bipartidista de Infraestructura y disponible a través del exitoso Fondo Rotatorio Estatal de Agua Potable de la EPA (DWSRF), da otro paso importante para avanzar en este trabajo y la justicia ambiental y refuerza el Plan de Acción de Tuberías y Pinturas de Plomo de la Administración y la Iniciativa Eliminar el Plomo de la EPA.

Trabajando en colaboración, la EPA y los Fondos Rotatorios Estatales están promoviendo la Iniciativa Justice40 del Presidente, ya que la exposición al plomo afecta de manera desproporcionada a las comunidades desventajadas y a las familias de bajos ingresos. Se espera que los fondos totales anunciados a través de este programa hasta la fecha reemplacen hasta 1.7 millones de tuberías de plomo en todo el país, asegurando agua potable limpia para innumerables familias.

“La ciencia lo ha dejado en claro, no existe un nivel seguro de exposición al plomo, y la principal fuente de exposición dañina en el agua potable es a través de las tuberías de plomo”, comentó el administrador de la EPA, Michael S. Regan. “El presidente Biden entiende que es fundamental identificar y eliminar las tuberías de plomo lo más rápido posible, y ha asegurado recursos significativos para que los estados y territorios aceleren la eliminación permanente de las peligrosas tuberías de plomo de una vez por todas”.

“Todas las familias puertorriqueñas merecen agua potable segura cuando abren el grifo y esta importante inyección de fondos reforzará aún más el trabajo para lograr esa meta”, indicó la administradora regional de la EPA, Lisa F. García. “Durante demasiado tiempo, la necesidad urgente de mejorar nuestros sistemas de agua potable ha superado con creces los fondos disponibles. Este financiamiento crucial de la Ley Bipartidista de Infraestructura está ayudando a cerrar esa brecha”.

“La exposición continua al plomo en el agua potable es un grave riesgo para la salud de las personas, especialmente de los niños. Me complace que Puerto Rico recibirá $28.6 millones en fondos para el reemplazo de tuberías de servicio de agua con plomo conforme a la Ley Bipartidista de Infraestructura.  Este financiamiento a través del Fondo Rotatorio Estatal (SRF) nos ayuda a avanzar en abordar el problema apremiante de la infraestructura envejecida y salvaguardar la salud de nuestros residentes”, señaló la representante Jenniffer González-Colón. “Al reemplazar estas tuberías obsoletas, estamos mejorando la calidad del agua y protegiendo el bienestar de nuestras comunidades para las generaciones venideras. Estoy orgullosa de haber sido parte del esfuerzo para elaborar y aprobar la Ley Bipartidista de Infraestructura como miembro del Comité de Transporte e Infraestructura de la Cámara de Representantes. A medida que avanzamos, sigo dedicada a abogar por inversiones adicionales en la infraestructura de Puerto Rico para abordar los desafíos de larga data y construir un futuro más resiliente para todos”.

La Ley Bipartidista de Infraestructura invierte la cifra histórica de $15 mil millones para identificar y reemplazar las tuberías de servicio de plomo. La ley exige que el 49% de los fondos proporcionados a través de la Financiación Suplementaria General del Fondo Rotatorio Estatal para Agua Potable (DWSRF) y la Financiación de Reemplazo de la Línea de Servicio Principal de la DWSRF se proporcionen como subvenciones y préstamos condonables a las comunidades desventajadas, una inversión crucial para las comunidades en las que no se ha invertido lo suficiente durante demasiado tiempo. La EPA proyecta un total nacional de 9 millones de tuberías de servicios de plomo en todo el país, según los datos recopilados de la 7ª Encuesta y Evaluación de Necesidades de Infraestructura de Agua Potable. Los fondos anunciados hoy se proporcionarán específicamente para la identificación y reemplazo de tuberías de servicio de plomo y ayudarán a todos los estados y territorios a financiar proyectos para eliminar las tuberías de plomo y reducir la exposición al plomo del agua potable. Esta fórmula específica de la Línea de Servicio de Plomo permite a los estados recibir asistencia financiera acorde con sus necesidades lo antes posible, promoviendo la protección de la salud pública en todo el país. Para garantizar que los fondos se utilicen para actividades relacionadas con las tuberías de servicio de plomo, las asignaciones de LSLR se basan en la necesidad, lo que significa que los estados con más tuberías de servicio de plomo proyectadas reciben proporcionalmente más.

Junto con el financiamiento anunciado hoy, la EPA también publica un memorándum que aclara la manera en que los estados pueden usar este y otros fondos para reducir más eficazmente la exposición al plomo en el agua potable. Además, la EPA ha desarrollado nuevos documentos de divulgación para ayudar a los sistemas de agua a educar a sus clientes sobre los problemas del agua potable, los impactos en la salud de la exposición al plomo, la propiedad de las tuberías de servicio y cómo los clientes pueden apoyar la identificación de posibles tuberías de servicio de plomo en sus hogares.

La ambiciosa iniciativa de la Administración Biden-Harris para eliminar las tuberías de plomo ya ha dado resultados significativos para las familias de todo el país. Los últimos fondos de hoy asegurarán que más familias puertorriqueñas se beneficien de estos recursos sin precedentes y apoyen proyectos como estos:

• El proyecto del Departamento de Salud de Puerto Rico utilizará fondos para promover los objetivos de protección de la salud de la Ley de Agua Potable Segura. Este acuerdo proporcionará fondos para reemplazar las tuberías de servicio de agua potable con plomo y ayudará a identificar la planificación, el diseño y el reemplazo de las tuberías de servicio de las tuberías de servicio propiedad del cliente y de la Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AAA). El Departamento de Salud también utilizará estos fondos para proporcionar asistencia técnica a los administradores de programas estatales y a los administradores de pequeños sistemas de agua.

Para ver más historias sobre cómo las inversiones sin precedentes de la Ley Bipartidista de Infraestructura están transformando comunidades en todo el país, visite el Esquema Narrativo sobre la Infraestructura de Agua de Invertir en Estados Unidos. Para obtener más información sobre algunos proyectos adicionales que están en marcha, consulte el informe de la EPA publicado recientemente Informe Trimestral sobre proyectos SRF de Agua Limpia y Agua Potable Financiados por la Ley Bipartidista de Infraestructura y explore el Portal Público de Fondos Rotatorios Estatales.  

Las asignaciones de hoy se basan en la 7ª Encuesta y Evaluación de Necesidades de Infraestructura de Agua Potable actualizada de la EPA, que incluye una evaluación de las presentaciones de actualización únicas. Hasta la fecha, estos son los mejores datos disponibles recopilados y evaluados sobre los materiales de las tuberías de servicio en los Estados Unidos. A finales de este verano, la EPA publicará un apéndice al 7º Informe DWINSA al Congreso, que incluirá las proyecciones actualizadas de las tuberías de servicio de plomo. La EPA anticipa el inicio de la recopilación de datos, que incluirá información sobre las tuberías de servicio de plomo, para el 8º DWINSA en 2025.

Para obtener más información, incluida la asignación de fondos para 2024 estado por estado y un desglose del Fondo Rotativo Estatal de Agua Potable de la EPA, visite el sitio web de Agua Potable de la EPA.

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CHICAGO – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a $39 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan to Bloomington and Normal Water Reclamation District in central Illinois. This WIFIA loan will help finance the district’s Wastewater System Modernization and Rehabilitation Program, which will provide essential public health and environmental protections while supporting economic growth. 

“Investing in water infrastructure is one of the best bets we can make to help our communities grow and thrive,” said EPA Acting Assistant Administrator for Water Bruno Pigott. “Through our WIFIA program and historic funding delivered by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA is investing in communities across the country to provide clean and safe water that is essential to residents, schools, and businesses. I’m excited that Bloomington, Illinois, has secured a $39 million WIFIA loan to upgrade wastewater treatment and better protect residents and the local environment.” 

Bloomington and Normal Water Reclamation District’s modernization and rehabilitation program will upgrade the wastewater system that serves over 130,000 residents. The district will rehabilitate its wastewater treatment plant and conveyance systems to comply with environmental regulations, increase system resiliency, and reduce combined sewer overflows. By converting backup generators from diesel fuel to natural gas and generating solar power, the district will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy costs, while improving air quality. Additionally, the district will conduct a study to identify sources of PFAS and recommend strategies to reduce discharges of these “forever chemicals” to local waters.  

“The district’s primary mission is the long-term protection of public health and the environment. Borrowing through the WIFIA program enables the accelerated renovation of aged facilities and construction of new facilities to meet and/or exceed NPDES permit standards,” said Tim Ervin, Executive Director of the Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District. “Through the strong support of Senator Duckworth and Senator Durbin of this EPA program, the construction and installation of this infrastructure will preserve and improve the water quality of Sugar and Little Kickapoo Creek for future generations in Central Illinois.”   

With this loan, the district expects to save $10 million and create about 250 jobs. It is the first Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan under a Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act master agreement that will commit $157 million accelerate rehabilitating the district’s wastewater system. 

Since its creation, EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program has announced over $20 billion in financing to support over $43 billion in water infrastructure projects that are strengthening drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure while creating over 140,000 jobs. 

EPA’s WIFIA loans are an important piece of the Biden-Harris Administration’s work Investing in America this Infrastructure Week. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, signed in November of 2021, provides $50 billion to invest in water infrastructure. Today, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-funded projects are breaking ground nationwide while tackling legacy pollution, upgrading drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, and making communities more resilient to the effects of climate change.

Learn more about EPA’s WIFIA Program and water infrastructure investments under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 

Background  

Established by the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014, the WIFIA program is a federal loan program administered by EPA. The WIFIA program aims to accelerate investment in the nation’s water infrastructure by providing long-term, low-cost supplemental credit assistance for regionally and nationally significant projects. The WIFIA program has an active pipeline of pending applications for projects that will result in billions of dollars in water infrastructure investment and thousands of jobs. 
 
EPA is currently in its 7th selection round for WIFIA financing. In this round, EPA is offering $6.5 billion through WIFIA, and $1 billion through SWIFIA, which is a loan program exclusively for State infrastructure financing authority borrowers. EPA is currently accepting letters of interest for WIFIA and SWIFIA loans. Learn more about submitting a letter of interest for a WIFIA loan. 
 
In addition to WIFIA loans, there are many federal funding resources available for communities and utilities to improve vital water and wastewater resources. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is a once-in-a-generation investment in our nation’s infrastructure and competitiveness. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides a historic $50 billion investment in upgrading critical water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure. 

  

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BOSTON (May 9, 2024) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) settled an administrative penalty case with Professional Contract Sterilization, Inc. (PCS) for alleged violations of Clean Air Act reporting requirements at their Ethylene Oxide sterilization facility in Taunton, Massachusetts. 

The case was settled on February 6, 2024, with a Consent Agreement and Final Order with PCS agreeing to pay a settlement penalty of $15,000, an amount determined appropriate by EPA based on its review of the company's financial ability to pay a penalty.

"We need to know if the air we're breathing is safe!" said EPA Regional Administrator David W. Cash. "Tracking emissions and control measures from permitted facilities is one of the many important ways EPA ensures our loved ones are protected from harmful health issues - and our environment remains resilient."

Ethylene oxide is a flammable, colorless and carcinogenic gas. Long-term human exposure to ethylene oxide has been linked to an increased risk of certain types of cancer, including leukemia and breast cancer. While ethylene oxide is primarily used to make other chemicals, such as antifreeze, it is also used as a sterilizing agent. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, approximately 50 percent of sterile medical devices, or roughly 20 billion devices per year, are sterilized with ethylene oxide.

In April 2023, EPA proposed to significantly strengthen and update emissions standards for ethylene oxide emitted into the air from commercial sterilizers like PCS in order to reduce the long-term risks for workers at these sterilization facilities as well as people living in nearby communities.

In March 2024, EPA announced a rule that will reduce lifetime cancer risks for people living near commercial sterilization facilities across the country. The final amendments to the air toxics standards for ethylene oxide commercial sterilization facilities put in place the strongest measures in U.S. history to reduce emissions of EtO, one of the most potent cancer-causing chemicals. Through the installation of proven and achievable air pollution controls, commercial sterilizers will reduce emissions by more than 90%.

Background:

In September 2021, EPA issued an information collection request to commercial Ethylene Oxide sterilization facilities nationwide, including PCS, to determine whether these sterilizers contributed to elevated cancer risk for residents of surrounding communities. After PCS allegedly failed to provide the information, EPA issued a testing requirement in April 2022 directing the company to test its Ethylene Oxide sterilization facility's emissions control system.

Subsequently, EPA filed an administrative complaint against the company in June 2022 alleging that PCS failed to submit information regarding its sterilization operation and to timely submit a plan to test whether its emissions control system was working properly. PCS completed its submission of the information requested in July 2022 after the complaint was filed and tested the performance of its emissions control system in April 2023. EPA staff was present during the performance test, reviewed the test results, and determined that PCS's control systems were meeting the current control efficiency standards.

A copy of the Consent Agreement and Final Order can be provided upon request.

LENEXA, KAN. (MAY 6, 2024) – On April 15 and 16, 2024, the Kansas and Missouri Departments of Agriculture, in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ordered 17 grocery stores in the Kansas City area to stop the sale and distribution of certain Fabuloso household disinfectants, as well as other disinfection products.

EPA says that the products were illegally imported into the U.S., are noncompliant with federal law, and may represent a danger to consumers.

 “EPA and our state partners are committed to protecting customers from potentially dangerous pesticide products, especially in areas already overburdened by pollution,” said EPA Region 7 Administrator Meg McCollister. “This includes taking swift action to prevent ongoing sales of illegal disinfectant products.”

According to EPA, the illegal Fabuloso products contain an active ingredient, glutaraldehyde, that is not authorized in the U.S. as a household disinfectant, because of potential health risks, including throat and lung irritation, asthma and difficulty breathing, dermatitis, nasal irritation, sneezing, wheezing, burning eyes, and conjunctivitis.

The joint state and EPA inspections that resulted in the “stop sale” orders revealed illegal Fabuloso products being offered for sale at multiple grocers in the Kansas City area that serve Hispanic communities.

The unauthorized Fabuloso products had labels primarily written in Spanish. A U.S. version of Fabuloso, with labels in English, contain an approved active ingredient that is authorized for sale in the U.S. Some of the stores that were inspected were selling both the authorized and unauthorized products.

Other violative products identified during the inspections and placed under a stop sale order include:

• 48 Horas Prevencion Antibacterial Clorox
• Clorox Ropa
• Royal Pine
• Pinol el Original
• Cloralex El Rendidor
• Axiom Complete
• Golden Essence Multi-Purpose Antibacterial Wipes

The stop sale orders issued to the grocery stores require them to remove the illegal products from store shelves and to cease all further sales and/or distribution.

If you have recently purchased a Fabuloso product that makes disinfectant claims, or any of the other listed disinfectants, check the product label to ensure that it is registered with EPA (all EPA-approved disinfectants have unique registration numbers). If the label does not include an EPA registration number and/or indicates it is not approved for sale in the U.S., contact your waste provider for disposal options. Fabuloso products that do not make anti-viral or anti-bacterial disinfectant claims are not regulated and can be used according to their directions.

Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), producers and distributors of pesticide products must register the products with EPA and must include required labeling on the products. It is illegal to sell any pesticide that is not registered and/or does not contain required label contents. Any products claiming to kill viruses and other pathogens are considered “pesticides” under federal law.

EPA offers a hotline where questions can be answered about pesticides at 1-800-858-7378. A Spanish-speaking version is available at 1-888-919-4372.

Learn more about FIFRA.

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SAN FRANCISCO – The Department of Justice, on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Attorney General of California, on behalf of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, filed a civil complaint in federal court today against the City and County of San Francisco for claims of Clean Water Act violations spanning the last decade. The complaint seeks financial penalties and improvements to remedy San Francisco’s repeated and widespread failures to operate its two combined sewer systems and three sewage treatment plants in compliance with the Clean Water Act and its permits. San Francisco failed to operate its combined sewer systems in a manner that keeps untreated sewage out of San Francisco Bay and its tributaries, streets, beaches and other areas with risk of human contact.

“Protecting San Francisco Bay, the Pacific Ocean and public health are critical priorities for EPA, and this complaint is a major step to improve how the San Francisco sewer system is managed,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “EPA and our partners are committed to ensuring San Francisco comes into compliance with the Clean Water Act to protect clean water and local communities.”

“San Francisco’s aging wastewater system has exposed the public to risks for too long,” said Alexis Strauss, Chair of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board. “This is the time to commit to an outcome which reduces sewage overflows and builds upgraded wastewater infrastructure. Our goal is to help San Francisco achieve a healthy Bay and coastline, which can be enjoyed by millions of residents and visitors every day."

The United States and the San Francisco Water Board request that the Court order the City of San Francisco to cease further violations of the Clean Water Act and its permits and complete all actions necessary to ensure that the City complies in the future. On average each year since 2016, San Francisco has discharged more than 1.8 billion gallons of untreated sewage from its combined sewer systems into creeks, San Francisco Bay, and the Pacific Ocean, including areas popular for wading, swimming, surfing, kayaking and fishing. San Francisco is served by two combined sewer systems that collect domestic sewage, industrial and commercial wastewater, and stormwater in the same pipes. During heavy rains, when the sewage treatment plants are at maximum capacity, combined sewage is discharged from near-shore outfalls to creeks, the San Francisco Bay, and the Pacific Ocean without receiving disinfection treatment.

San Francisco’s failure to take steps to minimize these discharges or provide disinfection treatment interferes with the state’s designated uses for these water bodies, which include water contact recreation and protection of aquatic life. Untreated sewage contains pathogens such as E. coli, which can cause severe illness if ingested. Children, the elderly, people with weakened immune systems and pregnant women have a higher risk for adverse consequences from such illness than the general population.

In addition, San Francisco’s combined sewer systems are in a state of disrepair, and the City’s failure to properly operate and maintain them has led to additional combined sewage discharges that has put members of the public at risk for unknowingly coming into contact with untreated sewage. San Francisco has also consistently failed to properly notify the public about the presence of untreated sewage at popular water recreation locations, overflows from manholes onto sidewalks and streets and the risks of coming into contact with untreated sewage.

EPA has brought enforcement actions to require municipalities across the country to update their sewer systems and address similar Clean Water Act violations. Nationally, EPA has been working with states, municipalities, and trade organizations to develop tools to help communities work towards compliance with Clean Water Act requirements, including meeting applicable water quality standards.

The State Water Board and nine regional boards administer and enforce the Clean Water Act in California, improving water quality for communities and the environment while working with wastewater systems to help bring them into compliance. In 2023, the Water Boards took 260 wastewater enforcement actions under the Clean Water Act, with over six million dollars in assessed penalties.

San Francisco is one of approximately 750 communities in the country with combined sewer systems but is only one of two such systems in California. San Francisco began planning to address its combined sewer overflows in the 1970s and completed construction of planned controls over 25 years ago. Since completion of those controls, no significant upgrades or updates have been made to the system to reduce combined sewer overflows and currently, the controls are insufficient to meet the requirements in San Francisco’s Clean Water Act permits.

Read the complaint on EPA’s website.

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In April, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered Gold Eagle Co. and West Marine Products Inc. to stop the sale of “303 2-in-1 Mold & Mildew Cleaner + Blocker” distributed by Chicago company Gold Eagle and sold at West Marine’s retail location in Troy, Michigan. The order will prevent the illegal distribution and sale of this unregistered pesticide product by both companies at their respective retail locations and websites. 

The product, “303 2-in-1 Mold & Mildew Cleaner + Blocker,” is a mold and mildew remover also marketed to prevent mold and mildew from returning. Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, products that claim to kill, destroy, prevent, or repel pests, which include mold and mildew, are pesticides. All pesticides distributed or sold in the United States are required to be registered by the EPA to ensure the products perform as intended and will not harm people, non-target species, or the environment when used as directed. Mold and mildew are pests of public health concern and exposure can lead to health effects like coughs, allergies, or asthma. Consumers who rely on ineffective or unregistered products to remove mold and mildew may face an increased risk of exposure.

The EPA will be in contact with Gold Eagle and West Marine to determine next steps.

For more information on the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, visit the EPA’s website.

For more information about the EPA’s enforcement program, visit the EPA’s website.

PHILADELPHIA (April 29, 2024) - Max Environmental Technologies, Inc. (MAX) has agreed to several actions to ensure compliance with federal and state hazardous waste safeguards at the company’s waste facility in Yukon, PA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. 

MAX owns and operates a 160-acre facility, surrounded by agricultural and residential properties, about 30 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, PA in Westmoreland County. According to EPA, this site is an area with potential environmental justice concerns. MAX conducts waste operations under permits issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) pursuant to the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA). RCRA is the principal federal hazardous waste storage and disposal statute.

Among the hazardous wastes at the MAX facility are wastewater treatment sludge, corrosives, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, selenium, silver, electric arc furnace dust, and waste acid/pickle liquor.  Waste management units include five closed impoundments, an active solid waste landfill, waste storage tanks and containers, hazardous waste treatment units, and a leachate management system that generates sludge from wastewater treatment.

EPA officials inspected the facility in March 20-24, 2023, to determine MAX’s compliance with environmental regulations, including the terms of its PA DEP-issued CWA and RCRA permits. According to EPA, its inspectors documented several RCRA permit violations, including but not limited to: (1) unlawful disposal of hazardous waste in the solid waste landfill at the facility, (2) failure to maintain a containment building, and (3) failure to keep the hazardous waste containers closed to prevent hazardous waste release.

The Consent Order announced today addresses RCRA and state hazardous waste requirements.  MAX has agreed to immediate measures to eliminate the potential release of solid and hazardous waste into the environment and to ensure that future ongoing operations do not cause or contribute to releases at the facility.   The RCRA consent order requirements include, but are not limited to:   

• Prohibition of disposal of untreated and treated hazardous waste in the facility’s landfill unless it has been reviewed and analyzed by a third-party auditor and unaffiliated PA DEP-accredited laboratory.  
• Retention of an EPA approved third party Professional Engineer to perform a structural evaluation and recommendations to repair or modify the containment and processing building and containment pads.
• Monitoring and sampling of residential wells adjacent to the facility.
• Monthly progress reports and meetings with EPA project managers to evaluate the compliance actions stated in the Consent Order 

EPA worked closely with PA DEP in investigating conditions and negotiating this consent order that addresses compliance with RCRA and state hazardous waste compliance.  EPA and PA DEP are currently reviewing MAX’s compliance with its CWA permit.