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From the Regional Administrator
Dear Readers,
EPA's work in the Pacific Southwest spans thousands of miles — from landfills on Pacific islands to
gold mines in Nevada, ports and freeways in California to power plants on tribal lands in Arizona.
In California's Central Valley, 25 percent of the nation's table food is produced on just
one percent of U.S. farmland. In its southern half, nearly four million San Joaquin Valley
residents suffer from some of the nation's worst air quality and high rates of childhood asthma.
Polluted rivers and groundwater pose public health, ecological and economic threats.
EPA has focused on the San Joaquin Valley as a top priority in our work with other agencies and
community partners to achieve healthy air, safe drinking water and clean, flowing rivers. These
efforts are detailed throughout this edition of our annual Progress Report, as well as on our
website at www.epa.gov/sanjoaquinvalley.
EPA doesn't just work with our partner agencies — we also fund their environmental programs
and enforcement efforts. In fact, that's where most of EPA's $631 million budget for the Pacific
Southwest Region goes - to states, tribes, local governments and nonprofits, as shown on p. 24.
EPA's own enforcement programs in the Pacific Southwest have been consolidated in a new
Enforcement Division, established in February 2013. The move strengthens our robust
regional enforcement and compliance efforts in air, water, waste, toxics and pesticides by
integrating our enforcement team and facilitating strategic targeting.
Securing a healthy environment is an ongoing mission that no agency can manage alone.
We welcome your input and collaboration in tackling these challenges.
v .
Jared Blumenfeld
Regional Administrator
EPA Pacific Southwest Region
Cover: Almond orchard in California's San Joaquin Valley
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Pacific
Islands: Zero
Waste, Green
Building
Reducing
r Pollution in ^
Southern California
Waterways
Clearing Haze
in Southwest's
Open Spaces
3
A Healthier
1-710 Corridor
Table of Contents
Clean Air.
Clean Water.
Clean Land 11
Communities & Ecosystems 17
Enforcement & Stewardship 21
EPA Funding in the Pacific Southwest 24
U.S.-Mexico Border Centerfold
Contact Information Inside Back Cover
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CL EAN AIR
Clearing the Haze in the Southwest
The magnificent vistas of the Southwest are often obscured by
air pollution - but new requirements and technologies are
helping to restore their grandeur.
Cleaner power plants to lead the way
In November 2012 and January 2013, EPA took action to
clear the haze from four coal-burning power plants in
Arizona, benefiting residents of Arizona, the Navajo Nation,
^^^^1 and more than 11 million visitors to 24 national parks and
wilderness areas each year, including the Grand Canyon,
Saguaro National Park and the Petrified Forest.
Air pollution from these power plants has reduced
visibility in the Grand Canyon and other parks in the region
for more than 40 years. Ninety percent of the time, the
Grand Canyons air is impaired by pollution.
In the first action, EPA approved Arizona's air quality plan
to control sulfur dioxide and particulate matter from three
power plants in eastern Arizona — Cholla Power Plant,
Apache Generating Station, and Coronado Generating
Station. In addition, EPA approved a federal plan to reduce
smog-forming nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by a total of
22,700 tons per year at these three facilities.
In January 2013, EPA proposed air pollution limits for
Navajo Generating Station (NGS — see photo at left), one of
the largest sources of NOx emissions in the country. The
2,250-megawatt power plant is on the Navajo Nation, less
than 20 miles from the Grand Canyon.
EPAs proposal would reduce NOx emissions from NGS
by 84%. It will also help protect public health, since NOx
reacts with other chemicals to form ozone and fine particles,
which aggravate asthma, bronchitis and emphysema.
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EPA spotlight
The proposal is the result of extensive federal
engagement with local tribes, the Salt River Project,
the Central Arizona Project, the agricultural
community and other stakeholders regarding
impacts on power and water costs. EPA has
considered more than 6,700 comments on NGS
since 2009 and will be holding public hearings to
collect additional input on the proposal.
The emission limit can be achieved by installing
an effective, available technology — Selective
Catalytic Reduction. In combination with low-NOx
burners the facility voluntarily installed between
2009 and 2011, the proposal would reduce
emissions by 28,500 tons per year by 2018.
www.epa.gov/region9/mediacenter/ngs
Fighting Mobile-Source Pollution
National emissions standards for vehicles and
small engines have given us healthier air to
breathe. In the Pacific Southwest, EPA is
targeting those who profit by defying the rules.
Manufacturer bypassed diesel soot filters
A Utah-based company paid a $500,000 penalty
for making and selling more than 9,000 electronic
SCOTT BOHNING
Scott Bohning has
more than 20 years of
experience as an air
modeler at EPA. Air
modelers use computer
1 I programs to determine
how emissions of air
pollutants affect air quality. These models simu-
late atmospheric conditions using inputs such as
meteorology, terrain and atmospheric chemistry.
This past year, Scott's modeling provided the
scientific underpinnings of many regulatory actions,
including those aimed at reducing haze and protect-
ing visibility in our treasured national parks and
wilderness areas.
This online video shows how an illegal product can
bypass pollution controls to produce clouds of black
diesel smoke.
devices allowing owners of diesel pickup trucks to
disable their particulate matter (PM) filters. These
filters remove about 90% of the PM from a
truck's exhaust. Without them, trucks spew dark
black smoke.
Diesel particulates are associated with lung
and heart disease, chronic bronchitis, and a
higher risk of lung cancer. Edge Products LLC's
devices caused an estimated 158 tons of excess
PM emissions — equivalent to 422 new
long-haul semi trucks operating for 29 years.
Under Edge's settlement with EPA, the
company must offer to buy back the devices and
spend at least $157,600 to offset the excess
emissions. Edge plans to do this by offering rebates
to owners of old wood-burning stoves who replace
them with new, cleaner-burning stoves.
www.epa.gov/enforcement/air/cases/edgeproducts.html
Port inspections reveal illegal imports
Two Southern California companies paid
penalties totaling $140,000 for importing
generators, dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles
(ATVs) through the Port of Long Beach without
required emission controls.
All Power America LLC paid $60,000 and
Maxtrade LLC paid $80,000. The companies
must also export the generators, ATVs and dirt
bikes out of the country.
EPA inspectors found that All Power imported
80 generators without the required catalytic
converters. Maxtrade imported 2,481 off-highway
motorcycles and ATVs with improper carburetors
and catalytic converters.
Equipment or vehicles without proper
emission controls emit excess amounts of
smog-forming gases, adding to harmful ozone
pollution. The Clean Air Act bans importation or
sale of new engines or vehicles unless they are
EPA-certified to meet federal emission standards.
EPA enforcement actions have targeted the importing
of engines that lack proper air pollution controls.
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Focus on the San Joaquin Valley
Mountains surrounding the San Joaquin Valley trap air
pollution, creating some of the worst air quality in
America. EPA, state regulators and local partners are
collaborating on solutions.
Air pollution poses tough challenges
Fine participate matter — known as PM2 5 — causes a
wide range of health problems, from asthma to
premature death. EPA supports California's efforts
to reduce PM2 5 levels in the valley through
regulatory action, clean-vehicle programs and
effective enforcement. The state's goal is to attain the
national annual and daily PM2 5 health standards by
2015 and more stringent standards by 2019.
In 2012, EPA continued its work with the
California Air Resources Board, the San Joaquin
Valley Air Pollution Control District and the
Central Valley Air Quality Coalition on measures
to reduce PM2 ?. In December, the air district
adopted a plan with new restrictions on wood
burning and other sources. EPA will also be working
with the state, air district and communities to
develop an updated plan to reduce ozone pollution
(smog), which is expected in 2015.
Enforcement cases cut emissions
EPA completed several Clean Air Act enforcement
cases in 2012 that will result in substantial emission
reductions in the valley. Three of the facilities — a
Lodi bakery, a biomass electric power plant in Tracy,
and the Manteca landfill — will pay a total of more
than $4.5 million in penalties and measures to
reduce air pollution.
In addition, EPA has supported local groups
in forming reporting networks to assist in
identifying facilities that violate environmental
and public health regulations (see page 19).
Heavy truck traffic through the San Joaquin Valley adds to particulate pollution and smog in Fresno.
Grants fund research, cleaner trucks
EPA has provided $500,000, which will leverage an
additional $3.4 million, for the valley air districts
Technology Advancement Program, a competitive
grant program to spur the deployment of innovative
clean air technologies. A $1 million EPA grant
funded a UC Berkeley/Stanford study on connec-
tions between children's asthma and prenatal and
childhood exposure to air pollutants in the valley.
EPA has also provided $8 million to UC
Davis' San Joaquin Valley Aerosol Health Effects
Center to study the effects of chronic childhood
exposures to particulate pollution. Results were
published in 36 articles in scientific journals.
In addition, EPA funding will result in
replacement of at least 35 heavy-duty diesel
waste-hauling trucks in the valley with new ones
that reduce emissions by up to 97%.
www.epa.gov/sanjoaquinvalley
Photo: ©Michael Macor/San Francisco Chronicle/Corbis
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•Hfc'1
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CL EAN WAI
Cleaning Up Southern California Waterways
EPA and California have been longtime partners in the quest
for cleaner surface waters in the Los Angeles region.
Trash, bacteria, chemicals targeted
Over the past 14 years, EPA and the Los Angeles Regional
Water Quality Control Board have established pollution
reduction plans to clean up 175 waterways in Los Angeles
and Ventura counties.
These include beaches, harbors, creeks, lakes, rivers and
wetlands that are used for swimming, surfing, and fish and
wildlife habitat. EPA has been working with the Los
Angeles Regional Water Board to set site-specific pollutant
reduction plans known as TMDLs — Total Maximum Daily
Loads — for each waterway impaired by pollution. Across
the Pacific Southwest Region, EPA approved 426 TMDLs
in 2012 alone.
The TMDLs established in the Los Angeles region call for
reductions in the amount of trash, bacteria, nitrogen,
phosphorus, mercury, pesticides and other toxic chemicals
polluting the region's waters. More than 95% of the
waterways will meet water quality standards once the
TMDLs are fully implemented.
Reductions in bacteria levels in Santa Monica Bay already
benefit millions of people who visit its beaches each year.
TMDLs for trash in rivers and creeks have led 42 cities to
capture trash from storm drains before it enters the LA River
(at left), reducing trash in the river by 65%. In Calleguas
Creek, a TMDL for nitrogen led to installation of advanced
wastewater treatment, which reduced ammonia levels and
resulted in documented water quality improvements in the
Arroyo Simi watershed.
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EPA spotlight
Other TMDLs established by EPA in 2012
include plans to reduce bacteria in the LA River
and estuary, and beaches in Long Beach; DDT,
PCBs and trash in Santa Monica Bay; sediment
and invasive plants in Ballona Creek wetlands;
toxics, trash, nitrogen and phosphorus in nine
LA-area urban lakes; and toxic pollutants at the LA
and Long Beach Harbors and Machado Lake.
www.epa.gov/region9/water/tmdl/progress.html
Wastewater Projects Advance
The completion of sewage treatment upgrades in
Southern California and in Mexico south of the
Arizona border marked the conclusion of a
decade-long push for cleaner waters.
Upgrading sewage treatment
Orange County, Calif., just south of Los Angeles,
has a population of more than three million. Its
wastewater goes through one of two treatment
plants to prevent pollution of the county's beaches
and nearshore waters.
So it was big news in October 2012 when the
Orange County Sanitation District finished
expanding its Fountain Valley facility to full
secondary treatment. The county's Huntington
Beach treatment plant completed similar upgrades
in 2011.
Secondary treatment injects air into
churning concrete pools of wastewater to speed
the growth of bacteria, which break down the
sewage. Such treatment has been required by
the Clean Water Act, but EPA can grant a
waiver if a primary-treated discharge is not
harming the environment.
The district had such a waiver, but by 2002
many residents opposed renewing it, and EPA
encouraged an upgrade to full secondary
treatment. The $3.4 billion project also
included replacement of aging sewers and
MELISSA SCIANNI
Melissa Scianni is
EPA's lead for the San
Francisco Bay interagency
workgroup known as
the DMMO. The Dredged
J Material Management
Office works to streamline
multi-agency permitting of dredging in San Francisco
Bay, keeping vital shipping channels open while
protecting aquatic ecosystems from chemically
contaminated sediments.
In 2013, Melissa will help assess the DMMO's
contribution to a healthier bay through a 12-year
retrospective study and public process that will help
shape the future of the dredging program.
Melissa joined EPA in 2007 as a Life Scientist and
has a master's degree in biology from California State
University at Long Beach.
construction of anaerobic digesters that
produce methane to generate most of the
electricity the treatment plants use.
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Santa Cruz River revival
In the border city of Nogales, Ariz., sewage
flowing from Nogales, Sonora (Mexico) — through
the Nogales Wash and into the Santa Cruz River
— had been overwhelming the capacity of the
Nogales International Wastewater Treatment Plant
for decades. EPA helped the Arizona city clean up
the river by completing a $70 million upgrade of
the plant in 2009.
The results were stunning. Where the polluted
river was murky and had a foul smell, by 2010 the
restored, clear, oxygen-rich waters became a magnet
to fish, wildlife and people.
However, the river was still sometimes tainted
by sewage spills and surges of stormwater mixed
with sewage. In partnership with Mexico, EPA
provided partial funding for projects in Nogales,
Sonora, to replace broken, inadequate sewers and
build the Los Alisos Wastewater Conveyance and
Treatment Project, completed in 2012. These
projects led to a significant reduction in sewage spills
in the wash and river.
The sewer collection and treatment plant
projects for the Ambos Nogales region, built with
roughly $100 million in EPA funding, account for
four of 102 drinking water and Wastewater projects
built by the Border Water Infrastructure Program
with Mexican and U.S. partners over the past
decade. Thanks to these projects, well over 500,000
homes have access to Wastewater collection and
treatment systems for the first time, and 60,000
homes have received safe drinking water. (See pages
12-13 for more on the border region.)
Far left: The Los Alisos Wastewater Treatment Plant, in
Nogales, Mexico, was completed in 2012. Left: The Santa
Cruz River near Nogales, Arizona, dramatically cleaner
since 2009, now attracts fish, wildlife and people.
Photos - Left: Claire Zugmeyer, Sonoran Institute. This page: Karina
Corbett Photography. P. 6-7: Mark Boster © 2010. Los Angeles Times.
Reprinted with permission.
Focus on the San Joaquin Valley
EPA works with state and local partners to protect
valley waters from contamination.
Protecting surface waters, groundwater
The San Joaquin Valley depends on both
groundwater and surface waters, including
rivers, creeks, canals and more than 575
community water systems.
Access to safe drinking water is a major
challenge for small communities, in part due to
contaminated groundwater (see page 19). The
California Department of Public Health
(CDPH) has targeted small non-complying
community water systems with health-based
violations throughout the state, of which
over 50% are in the San Joaquin Valley. EPA,
in partnership with CDPH and local
stakeholders, continues to work with these
communities to identify barriers to compliance
and to develop long-term sustainable solutions.
Some of the most promising signs of
progress to protect surface waters have come
from the San Joaquin River. First, a 50-mile
stretch that went dry part of every year due to
dams and water diversions was re-watered. In
November 2012, the state Department of Fish
and Wildlife captured adult salmon and
trucked them upstream to spawning areas, in
hopes of restoring a San Joaquin salmon run
for the first time in more than 60 years.
In June 2012, EPA awarded $59,000 in
grant funds under its Urban Waters initiative
to Revive the San Joaquin, a nonprofit in
Fresno, to establish a citizen-based water
quality monitoring and pollution prevention
education program in the city's 15 miles of
neighborhoods lining the riverbank.
Field scout Luis Gallegos uses a sweep net to search for
insect pests on a San Joaquin Valley farm.
Also notable is the success of a 20-year effort
to reduce levels of the pesticide diazinon in two
stretches of the river, totaling 17 miles.
Diazinon was being used on orchards, and
runoff was washing the pesticide into the river.
Since 1994, a partnership including growers,
the University of California, state agencies, and
EPA have collaborated on the Biologically
Integrated Orchard System (BIOS) project.
Participating growers reduced their use of
chemical pesticides, replacing them with
biological controls, cover crops, and habitat for
beneficial insects. By 2010, diazinon levels had
dropped dramatically, and these stretches of the
San Joaquin were removed from the states list of
waters impaired by diazinon.
www.epa.gov/sanjoaquinvalley
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„.«'
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CL EAN .AND
Promoting Land Reuse for Renewable Energy
EPA and the Department of Energy's National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL) have provided new tools to identify
prime sites for development.
Making degraded sites productive again
The federal government continues to encourage the growth of
renewable energy, as underscored by President Barack Obama's
visit to the Copper Mountain Solar 1 facility in Boulder City,
Nev, in March 2012 (at left).
EPA and NREL have recently released two tools that
help developers, communities, local governments and
landowners site projects that can help revitalize degraded
areas and reduce pressure on developing valuable agricultural
and pristine natural lands.
The California Renewable Energy Siting Tool is designed
to identify potential sites for utility-scale renewable energy
development. It's a mapping tool and dataset that uses
California Department of Toxic Substances Control data on
contaminated and degraded land across the state with
information key to the compatibility of sites for renewable
energy. EPA has already used the tool to identify 75
potential sites in California.
The Solar and Wind Decision Trees can be used for
more in-depth evaluation of the viability of installing
solar or wind energy at sites large and small. Developed
under EPAs RE-Powering America's Land Initiative, the
decision trees include a detailed set of technical and
economic criteria and other influential factors, enabling
stakeholders to focus attention and funding on sites that
meet the criteria.
Story continues, p. 14
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f San Diego, CA
Tjjuana, BC
Border Region
Cities or Municipalities
Emergency
Response
Environmental
Stewardship
Tribal
Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld (left) and former EPA
Adminstrator Lisa Jackson (center) are joined by the Pacific
Southwest Region's U.S.-Mexico Border Team to launch the
new Border 2020 Environment Program.
The U.S.-Mexico border region faces many
environmental challenges. Some of these
challenges include poor air quality in shared
airsheds, thousands of homes lacking safe
drinking water and wastewater treatment,
and inadequate solid and hazardous waste
management programs and services. Limited
resources have also strained emergency
response and enforcement capacity in
border cities.
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UNITED
However, significant strides have been made on
both sides of the border. The map above shows a
few of the U.S.-Mexico Environmental Program's
accomplishments from 2010 to 2012. Border 2020 is
the latest bi-national environmental plan approved
under the framework of the 1983 La Paz Agreement
between the U.S. and Mexico.
Border 2020's five main goals are reducing air
pollution; improving access to clean and safe water;
promoting materials and waste management, recycling,
and clean sites; enhancing joint preparedness to
respond to environmental emergencies; and enhancing
compliance assurance and environmental stewardship.
The program emphasizes regional, bottom-up
approaches for decision making, priority setting, and
projects to address the most pressing environmental and
public health problems in the border region, with ongoing
participation from communities and local stakeholders.
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EPA spotlight
Continued from p. 11
Targeted sites include potentially contami-
nated land, landfills, underutilized rooftops and
parking lots, and abandoned parcels.
www.epa.gov/region9/climatechange/renewcontlands
www.epa.gov/renewableenergyland
Cleaning Up Industrial Sites
EPA's Superfund Program cleans up the nation's most
contaminated sites. A recent cleanup in Oakland,
Calif., utilized ground-up fish bones. At Nevada's Rio
Tinto Mine, work is just starting.
Fish bones vs. lead in West Oakland
Near Oakland's AMCO Superfund site, a former
chemical distribution business, EPA found lead
contamination in the yards of eight homes on the
same block. In 2007, EPA excavated and removed
the contaminated soil. In 2009, however, lead
contamination was found in the soil of five
adjacent blocks with 151 homes.
Looking for the least disruptive remedy, EPA
found that phosphate reacts with lead to form
pyromorphite, which is not easily absorbed by
the human body. Under EPA's direction,
contractors brought in tons of phosphate-rich
fish bones ground into powder — a waste product
from Alaska canneries — to be rototilled into the
soil of neighborhood yards.
This innovative method helped minimize
impacts to local residents, and EPA engaged
community members and local businesses as part
of its cleanup effort.
The project was a model of sustainability, using
electric and biodiesel vehicles and equipment, solar
power for on-site offices, reclaimed water, native
plants and recycled landscape material.
THE WEST
OAKLAND TEAM
Lead-contaminated soil
is widespread in cities
/ around the world. The
EPA team working in
West Oakland, Calif., demonstrated an innovative,
sustainable cleanup method (see story, this page).
This precedent-setting project also prevented
air pollution that would have resulted from hauling
soil to a distant landfill.
Project Officer Barbara Lee led local contract-
ing efforts; On-Scene Coordinator Steve Calanog
directed the cleanup; and
Toxicologist Dr. Sophia
Serda ensured that the
project would protect
people's health (top photo).
Community Involvement
Coordinators Leana Rosetti
and Alejandro Diaz (bottom
photo) conducted outreach
to residents.
Taking on Rio Tinto Mine
Several abandoned mines in the Pacific
Southwest are Superfund sites because they
pose health threats to people, fish and wildlife.
In 2012, four companies agreed to pay a total
of $25 million to clean up an abandoned
copper mine in northeastern Nevada.
In the agreement currently under court review,
the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection
would oversee cleanup of the Rio Tinto Mine
with input from EPA and the Shoshone Paiute
Tribes of Duck Valley. The companies, successors
to the mine operators, agreed to remove mine
tailings from Mill Creek, restore it to support
native redband trout, and improve water quality
in the East Fork Owyhee River.
Workers use rototillers to blend fish-bone powder
into topsoil of West Oakland backyards to neutralize
lead contamination.
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Focus on the San Joaquin Valley
EPA oversees cleanup work at 14 Superfund sites in
the valley, helps local governments assess brown-
fields to hasten redevelopment, and inspects pesticide
facilities to prevent spills.
Brownfields assessment enables
clinic expansion
The city of Visalia used an EPA Brownfields
Community-Wide Assessment grant to target
rundown properties for revitalization. In one case,
a roofing business in an old, dilapidated building
was moving to smaller quarters. The assessment
showed that no cleanup was necessary, clearing
the way for redevelopment.
The Family HealthCare Network, Tulare
County's largest non-profit health care provider
for low-income clients, bought the property.
They razed the old structure and will begin to
build a new medical-dental building with 44
exam rooms and 12 dental rooms that will allow
the clinic to serve 4,500 more people.
In West Fresno, EPA and partners Fresno
Youth Council for Sustainable Development and
Center for Creative Land Recycling completed a
plan for an urban garden near Edison High
School. Students there were involved in choosing
the site and planning the garden. Next, EPA will
conduct a brownfields assessment of the site and
make recommendations to ensure it's clean
enough to grow crops.
West Fresno, which is separated from
downtown Fresno by Highway 99, is one of the
city's oldest neighborhoods. Its 35,000 residents,
mostly low-income and minority, live alongside
both agricultural and industrial operations.
www.epa.gov/region9/brownfields/fresnoW
A Brownfields site assessment cleared the way for expansion of this health clinic in Visalia.
Cleanup at Fresno County Superfund site
In the town of Malaga, a former oil recycling and
refining site left behind extensive soil and
groundwater contamination. Cleanup at the
Purity Oil site included groundwater extraction
and treatment as well as actions to neutralize and
cap contaminated soils.
In 2007 the cap was completed, and by 2010, a
soil vapor extraction system was removing the
remaining soil contamination. By 2012, EPA
found that soil and groundwater contamination
had fallen to very low levels and will continue to
drop through natural processes as groundwater
monitoring continues.
Inspections to prevent pesticide spills
Pesticide producers store pesticides in tanks and
containers that can hold more than 500 gallons. A
new federal regulation took effect recently requiring
containment around these tanks, so that spills won't
flow onto streets or reach soil and groundwater.
EPA and the California Department of
Pesticide Regulation are collaborating to inspect
pesticide production facilities throughout the San
Joaquin Valley to ensure compliance with the
containment rule.
www.epa.gov/sanjoaquinvalley
Photo: Harry L. Foster
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4 **
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COMMUNITIES
& ECOSYSTEMS
A Healthier 1-710 Corridor
Los Angeles' 1-710 corridor, which runs from the Ports of LA and
Long Beach to East LA, has some of California's most pressing
environmental challenges. EPA has been working with local
agencies and community partners to reduce pollution.
Reducing exposures to environmental hazards
The 1-710 corridor is home to more than a million people,
most of whom are low-income and minority. In response to
diesel pollution and other challenges posed by movement of
goods from the ports, EPA has focused enforcement and
cleanup authorities along the corridor and is working
collaboratively with local partners to improve public health.
Over the past three years, EPA conducted 216 facility
inspections and took formal enforcement actions against 45
facilities. Violators paid a total of $1.7 million in penalties and
invested $580,000 to comply with regulations and prevent
more than 60,000 pounds of air pollution each year.
EPA and California's State Water Resources Control Board
have partnered to accelerate cleanup of more than 100
abandoned gas station sites in the corridor. The agencies issued
cleanup orders to responsible parties at nine sites. By late 2012,
tanks had been removed at 11 sites and 38 cases were closed,
clearing the way for redevelopment.
In Southgate, EPA oversees cleanup at former
industrial sites such as the Cooper Drum Superfund site,
where treatment of contaminated groundwater began in
August 2012.
Air quality along the corridor could worsen if extra lanes
are added to the 1-710, as proposed by CalTrans. EPA
reviewed the draft environmental impact statement for the
project and in September 2012 recommended that CalTrans
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analyze a modified Zero-Emission Freight Corridor
Alternative, with no 1-710 widening, as a way to
prevent increases in particulate pollution.
EPA has also partnered with and supported
community organizations in addressing
environmental challenges. For example, EPA's
environmental justice (EJ) small grant funding
has supported Community Services Unlimited
in working with youth in South Central LA on
healthy food and sustainable agriculture.
The Center for EJ and Community Action in
Riverside used EPA children's health and indoor
air grant funding to reach out to more than
1,200 students, parents and school staff; screen
students for asthma and respiratory problems;
and work with school staff on a curriculum for
indoor air quality.
Addressing Uranium Contamination
on the Navajo Nation
For the past five years, EPA has led a coordinated
federal investment of more than $100 million to
address uranium-related health risks.
Cleanups, job training and clean drinking water
EPA has spent more than $50 million over the past
five years to clean up abandoned mines, provide safe
drinking water, and demolish and replace Navajo
homes contaminated by uranium. In addition to
federal funds, EPA has used the Superfund law to
compel responsible parties to spend $17 million on
mine investigations and cleanups.
Cleanup work is still underway, and 20 Navajo
Nation members who graduated from EPAs
Superfund Job Training Initiative in December 2012
have been trained to help with the continuing effort.
They were the first graduates from a tribal nation to
participate in a Superfund Job Training program.
Work completed over the past five years has
reduced some of the most urgent risks to Navajo
residents by remediating 34 contaminated homes,
providing safe drinking water to 1,825 families, and
stabilizing or cleaning up nine abandoned mines.
EPA also conducted field assessments of 240 water
sources and 520 mines, while Navajo Nation EPA
assessed nearly 800 homes and other structures.
The Navajo Nation encompasses more than
27,000 square miles in the Four Corners area of
Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. About four
million tons of uranium ore was mined on the
Navajo Nation from 1944 to 1986 for use in atomic
weapons and nuclear power. Many Navajo people
worked the mines, often raising their families close
to the mines and mills.
There remain more than 500 abandoned mine
claims and thousands of pits, trenches and holes
with elevated levels of uranium, radium and other
EPA spotlight
SAN JOAQUIN
PESTICIDES
TEAM
KatyWilcoxenand
) Fabiola Estrada
(left and right) have
conducted bilingual trainings for San Joaquin Valley
communities on the use of soil fumigants, their health
impacts, and how to avoid exposures. They also pro-
vide "Breaking Barriers" language and cultural training
to help state pesticide inspectors communicate with
farm workers who speak little to no English.
Patti Ten Brook (center) lends her technical
pesticide expertise on many projects. Recently,
Patti worked with the regional Air Division to ensure
controls were added to California's air quality plan to
reduce pesticide emissions that contribute to ozone
formation in areas like the San Joaquin Valley.
sources of radiation. Exposure to radiation can
cause lung cancer, bone cancer and impaired
kidney function.
EPA will continue to work with the Navajo
Nation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Nuclear
Regulatery Commission, Department of Energy,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and
Indian Health Service to further reduce risks from
uranium on Navajo lands.
www.epa.gov/region9/superfund/navajo-nation
Mapping low-level radiation sources around uranium
mining and milling sites on the Navajo Nation.
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Focus on the San Joaquin Valley
EPA supports community-based problem solving
through grants and technical assistance to address
health threats posed by environmental hazards.
Working with communities
EPA's work in the San Joaquin Valley has been
strengthened by engagement and support of a
number of local efforts and organizations.
In Kern and Fresno counties, EPA partnered
with Californians for Pesticide Reform and
Fresno Metro Ministry, awarding a children's
health grant and an environmental justice (EJ)
grant to create Web-based systems to monitor,
track and address environmental hazards: the
Kern Environmental Enforcement Network
(KEEN) and the Fresno Environmental
Reporting Network (FERN).
These projects aim to improve enforcement
of environmental health laws by creating
partnerships between community members and
local agencies, establishing task forces and
removing barriers to reporting suspected
environmental violations. To date, the KEEN
and FERN websites have received nearly 80
reports of environmental violations.
Another EJ grant supported Greenaction for
Health and Environmental Justice's project to
reduce diesel emissions in Kettleman City and
Avenal through an effort to stop unnecessary
truck and bus engine idling. Among the results
were the signing of "Good Neighbor" agreements
by nine local businesses. Participants included
community members, businesses, truckers,
trucking companies, schools and bus drivers.
Photo: Roger Kintz, California Department of Toxic
Substances Control
Participants in the Fresno Environmental Reporting Network took a bus tour of pollution sources in and around Fresno.
Drinking water challenges
In some parts of the valley, drinking water wells are
contaminated with nitrate, arsenic and other
chemicals. Under an EPA EJ grant, the Commu-
nity Water Center's (CWC) Protecting Ground-water
from the Ground Up project has provided assistance
to 25 communities and worked with 141 residents
from Fresno, Hanford, Modesto, Visalia, Delano,
Merced, Lodi and surrounding areas to increase
understanding of drinking water pollution and
how it can prevented. It also trained 28 commu-
nity members to participate in decision-making
processes at various levels of government.
In addition, CWC leveraged additional funding
to provide direct organizing, technical and advocacy
assistance to 19 communities with water problems
in San Joaquin Valley and Coachella Valley.
Revitalizing Fresno's Center
In Fresno, EPA has been working with a team of
federal agencies to support the city's plans for
economic growth and revitalization.
As the lead agency in the Fresno pilot of the
White Home Strong Cities, Strong Communities
initiative, EPA is advancing its mission to protect
public health and the environment by supporting
the mayor's goals of redeveloping downtown Fresno
and reversing decades of growth outward into some
of the world's most productive agricultural land.
www.epa.gov/sanjoaquinvalley
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ENFORCEMENT
& STEWARDSHIP
Enforcement in Focus
Enforcement of environmental laws is the foundation of EPA's
work. The Pacific Southwest Region has consolidated its civil
enforcement activities to further strengthen these critical efforts.
Integrating environmental enforcement programs
In February 2013, EPA's Pacific Southwest Regional Office
created a new Enforcement Division that brings together the
compliance inspectors and data specialists formerly in its Air,
Water, Waste, and Communities & Ecosystems Divisions.
The move strengthens the Agency's robust regional enforce-
ment program by integrating its enforcement team.
By consolidating the enforcement of key federal statutes,
the Pacific Southwest Region will be better positioned to
strategically target inspections and investigations, provide
better training and coordination for enforcement staff,
enhance field presence throughout the region, and collaborate
more effectively on enforcement matters with states, tribes
and the Department of Justice.
A sampling of significant enforcement actions over the
past year include:
• Three Nevada gold mines owned by Barrick Gold Corp.
will correct under-reported releases of cyanide, lead,
mercury and other toxics; pay penalties of $278,000; and
spend $340,000 to identify toxic metal compounds
formed during milling at the Cortez/Pipeline gold mine,
one of the worlds largest. Barrick will also audit all seven
of its U.S. gold mines to ensure correct reporting and pay
up to $250,000 in additional penalties.
• At Honolulu's Waimanalo Gulch Landfill, decomposing
trash emitted toxic gases, organic compounds and
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EPA spotlight
methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The landfill
will monitor gas to prevent fires, and pay a
$1.1 million penalty. It has already built a gas
collection system.
• In California's San Joaquin Valley, the Fresno
County company JD Home Rentals spent
$74,000 to replace windows that contained
toxic lead-based paint at four of its properties
with new energy-efficient windows. The
company also paid a $7,500 penalty for
failing to inform tenants about potential lead
hazards. (For information on air enforcement
cases in the valley, see page 5.)
Growing the Food Recovery Challenge
Food is the largest single type of waste going to
landfills - 21% nationally. EPA is working with 20
universities and 10 other institutions in the Pacific
Southwest to reduce, reuse or recycle it.
Reducing waste on a large scale
On America Recycles Day, November 15, 2012,
Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld joined
University of California officials at UC Berkeley's
Crossroads Dining Hall to see how the famed
campus is participating in EPA's Food Recovery
Challenge, a voluntary program that reduces
food waste through donations to charity,
reducing overproduction, composting, and
anaerobic digestion.
In 2012, EPA recruited 22 new participating
institutions in the Pacific Southwest, for a total of
30. A major university campus feeds thousands
of students, typically disposing of tons of food
waste every day. The 20 participating campuses,
with a total of 460,000 students, have pledged to
reduce wasted food over the next year.
^__ ^ ARLENEKABEI
• Arlene Kabei has been
doing environmental
enforcement for more
^^ than 35 years - first as a
I manager for the Hawaii
! J Department of Health,
and since 1993 in EPA's
Pacific Southwest Region, where she has overseen
cleanup and permitting of hazardous waste sites.
Today, Arlene is Assistant Director of the new
regional Enforcement Division, overseeing all wa-
ter and pesticides enforcement programs. "Now
we can ensure that our enforcement work is more
consistent across different media- like air and
water - and our states, tribal lands and Pacific
islands," she says.
Besides the 20 campuses, other participants
include grocers and entertainment venues,
such as the Los Angeles Dodgers Stadium and
MGM Resorts.
Environmental impacts of food waste
Nationally, 33 million tons of food waste goes to
landfills each year. Since food production and
transport use enormous quantities of water and
energy, reducing this waste can have a substantial
environmental payoff. Another reason to keep
food out of landfills: When it decomposes, it
forms methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Excess food can be donated to community
food banks or recycled into valuable, nutrient-rich
compost. Many California cities compost their
greenwaste and food waste, producing a rich
organic soil amendment that is used in vineyards,
farms, parks and gardens.
The Food Recovery Challenge is part of EPA's
Sustainable Materials Management Program,
which seeks to reduce the environmental impacts
of food and other widely used materials through
their entire life cycle, from extraction of raw
materials to recycling and disposal.
www.epa.gov/foodrecoverychallenge
Environmental Awards
Recognize Trailblazers
EPA's Pacific Southwest office gives awards each
year recognizing outstanding work to protect
public health and the environment.
Innovative achievements cited
From Arizona to Guam, twelve individuals and
organizations were recognized as role models in
2012 for their accomplishments. They include:
Children's Environmental Health: Dr. Jeanne
Conry of Roseville, Calif, a practicing obstetri-
cian, advanced children's environmental health by
promoting better prenatal and preconception
care. Prenatal exposures are a key risk factor for
Dr. Jeanne Conry of Roseville, Calif, (center) received a
Children's Environmental Health Award from former
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson (left) and Regional
Administrator Jared Blumenfeld (right).
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infants and children. Dr. Conry has made
environmental health a new emphasis for the
obstetrics community, and helped make chemical
exposures a priority for the American Congress of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Green Government Award: The Sustainable Cities
Network, a collaborative program created by
Arizona State University's Global Institute of
Sustainability to increase regional dialogue and
action among Arizona communities, has helped
advance initiatives associated with green infrastruc-
ture, low-impact development, and streamlining
solar processes. As one of the country's first
university/community-based sustainability outreach
programs, it serves as a successful model that can be
replicated by other universities.
Sustainable Agriculture Champion: Organic walnut
farmer Russ Lester of Dixon Ridge Farms in
Winters, Calif, is a sustainable farming pioneer.
Walnut shells fuel the farm's biogas-powered
generator, reducing the need for outside power. The
farm has 3,500 square feet of photovoltaic solar
panels, with a planned 100,000-square-foot
expansion. Dixon Ridge is also a leader in water
conservation and reduced packaging.
Zero Waste Advocate: Adobe Systems Inc.,
collaborating with Cushman & Wakefield, the
City of San Jose, Republic Services, and GCA,
developed a world-class recycling program that
diverts an astonishing 100% of solid waste
from its headquarters facility. This model has
been replicated by many other Silicon Valley
companies. Adobe's complex has about 2,500
employees, a million square feet of space, a
cafeteria and restaurant.
www.epa.gov/region9/awards
Dr. To'afa Viaiga'e, former director of the American Samoa EPA, at the agency's new green building.
Pacific Islands: Zero Waste,
Green Building
EPA works with partner agencies on environ-
mental issues in Pacific island territories and
nations scattered across thousands of miles of
ocean, from American Samoa to Guam and the
Northern Mariana Islands.
Guam recycles, American Samoa builds green
In Guam, residents celebrated their biggest
America Recycles Day on November 15, 2012.
For the first time, the island's government
announced Guam's recycling rate — 17.85% of
municipal waste — which was more than 29,000
tons. This was quite an achievement, since the
island only recently introduced a pilot program
for curbside recycling.
Governor Eddie Calvo announced plans to
increase Guam's recycling rate in 2013 by 3%.
His administration has also been working closely
with EPA to develop a plan for Zero Waste.
EPA staff worked with Guam EPA, the
Department of Defense, and island recyclers
and disposal companies to establish the
recycling measurement system used to track
Guam's progress toward Zero Waste.
In October 2012, American Samoa's EPA
moved into their new green office building,
replacing the one damaged in the 2009
earthquake and tsunami. The new structure is
designed to generate more renewable energy
than it consumes. Its power bill went from
$2,000 down to $5 in its first month of
operation. It is expected to be the first building
in the U.S. Pacific territories to achieve the
highest "platinum" certification of the U.S.
Green Building Council.
www.epa.gov/region9/newsletter/sept2012/amsamoa.html
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EPA Funding for FY2012 for the Pacific Southwest Region
Contracts
10%
$61.9
Payroll and
Support
14%
$91.4
Regional Operating Budget
(in millions)
CNMI American Samoa
$10 $11
Guam
$19
" waii
Nevada
$34
Geographic Distribution
of Grant Awards
(in millions)
About 85% of the $631 million operating
budget appropriated by Congress for EPA's
Pacific Southwest Region flows to state and
tribal agencies, local governments, nonprofit
organizations and private-sector companies
in the form of grants and contracts.
This funding pays for drinking water and
wastewater infrastructure, clean air programs,
Superfund site cleanups, rehabilitation of
contaminated lands, and many other activities
supporting communities and public health.
For more information on grants, visit
www.epa.gov/ogd.
Regional Funding by Strategic Goal
All told, 62% of regional funding is applied toward the goal of Protecting America's
Waters, with nearly $350 million in grants going to the State Revolving Fund, which
supports drinking water and wastewater infrastructure as well as nonpoint source
pollution and estuary protection programs.
Improving Air Protecting Cleaning Up Ensuring Enforcing
Quality/ America's Communities/ Safety of Environmen-
Climate Waters Advancing Chemicals tal Laws
Change Sustainable and Prevent-
Development ing Pollution
Distribution of Grant Funding
The majority of EPAs grant funding goes to state and tribal agencies for
environmental work. (In the Pacific islands, all of EPAs financial support
goes to government agencies.) The charts show who receives funding in
each of four major geographic areas.
California
(S304 million)
*
Arizona
($64 million)
Nevada
($34 million)
Hawaii
($30 Million)
KEY
State Agencies &
Special Districts
| Tribes
| Local Government
Universities
Nonprofits
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency I Pacific Southwest/Region 9 Contacts
Offices
EPA Pacific Southwest Region
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA94105
415.947.8000
EPA Pacific Islands Contact Office
300 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 5124
Honolulu, HI 96850
808.541.2710
EPA San Diego Border Office
610 West Ash St., Suite 905
San Diego, CA92101
619.235.4765
EPA Southern California Field Office
600 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1460
Los Angeles, CA90017
213.244.1800
Phone Inquiries
415.947.8000
or 866.EPAWEST
(toll-free)
Email Inquiries
r9.info@epa.gov
EPA Website
wwwr.epa.gov
For Pacific Southwest Issues
www.epa.gov/region9
To Obtain This Report
Order from EPAs Environmental
Information Center at
866.EPA.WEST (toll-free), email
r9.info@epa.gov or view in English
and Spanish on the Web at
www.epa.gov/region9/annualreport
Areas in red are part of EPA's Pacific Southwest Region
Want to stay informed?
Keep up with EPA's work in the Pacific Southwest and other environmental stories by
subscribing to our monthly e-newsletter at www.epa.gov/region9/newrsletter
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
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