FY 2013 REGIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS Region 1 Reduced Chemical Hazards in Schools: As part of a consent agreement resolving alleged RCRA violations against the Northland Environmental facility in Providence, Rhode Island, the company and its owner will be required to spend $252,152 performing chemical cleanouts, conducting hazardous waste training for school staff, and providing school safety equipment for approximately 60 high schools and middle schools. The cleanouts will be focused in environmental justice areas of Rhode Island and Massachusetts within 50 miles of the Providence facility. Region 2 Finalized Cleanup Plan for Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal: In 2010, EPA added the Gowanus Canal to the National Priorities List of Superfund Sites, making it only the second NPL site in New York City. In near record time, the work on the Canal has progressed from the Remedial Investigation phase to a 2013 Record of Decision. The ROD calls for removing 588,000 cubic yards of sediment by dredging; implementing controls to prevent combined sewer overflows; capping the dredged areas; excavating and restoring one street basin; excavating and restoring a portion of another street basin; and treating the dredged sediment off-site. The estimated cost for this cleanup is $506 million. Region 3 Cleaned up Lead at Price Battery Site, Hamburg, PA: EPA completed residential cleanups at the Price Battery site in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, cleaning up lead from 554 residential yards and lead-contaminated dust from 402 residential interiors. EPA participated in local lead awareness campaigns and worked with health agencies to offer important advice on preventing lead exposure and to conduct periodic blood lead level screening, part of the Pennsylvania Department of Health's ongoing effort to identify children with blood lead levels elevated by exposure to lead from this former battery recycling and manufacturing site. ------- Region 4 Conducted Brownfield Outreach: Brownfield outreach efforts in Region 4 helped communities in Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Mississippi receive $15.3 million in competitive Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, Cleanup, Area Wide Planning, Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training, and Revolving Loan Fund Supplement Brownfield grants. Through these grants, southeastern communities will be able to protect human health and the environment, return contaminated and blighted properties to productive use and create jobs. Region 5 Targeted Cleanup and Enforcement Actions in Environmental Justice Communities: Coordinating work across Goals 3, 4, and 5, Region 5 targeted cleanup and enforcement actions in environmental justice communities- communities that are disproportionately impacted by environmental problems—by awarding brownfield grants totaling $27 million; reducing air pollution from facilities in these neighborhoods by 130 million pounds per year; remediating contaminated sites; removing PCB-contaminated lighting ballasts in schools; and training workers to use lead-safe practices when renovating, repairing, and painting older buildings. Region 6 Greenhouse Gas Permitting: Region 6 implemented EPA's largest greenhouse gas (GHG) permitting program, reflecting more than 80 percent of EPA's Clean Air Act GHG permitting workload. The Region received 76 GHG pre-construction permit applications and issued 20 permits; six more were at public notice or pending final issuance. Concurrently, Region 6 and the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality worked together to develop a state program to replace the federal GHG permitting program, thereby eliminating the need for businesses to seek air permits from two separate regulatory agencies. Region 7 Cleaned Up Lead- Contaminated Sites: The Superfund Program in Region 7 continued to clean up lead- contaminated sites in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska, excavating mine and smelter waste amounting to 8.6 million cubic yards, remediating 1702 residential yards, and stabilizing lead-based paint in 184 residential properties. In addition, 325 homes with lead-contaminated drinking water received alternate water supplies. Region 8 Final Site-Wide Remedy in the San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado: Region 8 completed a site- wide water treatment system at the Summitville Mine Superfund site after 20 years of response action to minimize, control, and mitigate uncontrolled releases of acid mine drainage from the site. Since 1992, EPA has spent over $300 million to reach this phase and complete the system. Full operations and maintenance responsibility will be transferred to the State of Colorado in 2021. Region 9 Provided Assistance to Build Sustainable Communities: EPA partnered with Fresno, the State of California, and 11 other federal agencies to provide technical assistance and support for the city's economic development plans. The federal team built the foundation for economic transformation by aligning federal resources, building local capacity, and streamlining federal services through a place-based approach. The initiative enabled Fresno to better use more than $63 million in existing federal funds, built capacity that led to Fresno securing $22 million in new federal and non-federal grant and contract resources, and helped leverage more than $1 million of outside resources to support economic development goals. Region 10 Entered Consent Decrees with King County and City of Seattle for Combined Sewer Overflow Contamination: EPA Region 10 entered consent decrees with King County and the City of Seattle, resulting in the municipalities committing to more than $1.4 billion in work and more than $750,000 in penalties to protect water quality in the Puget Sound, the second-largest estuary in the United States. The consent decrees require the county and city to develop and implement a joint operations and system optimization plan to improve the holistic operation and coordination of their combined sewer system. The two decrees are among the first in the nation to incorporate EPA's Integrated Municipal Stormwater and Wastewater Framework. ------- |