Archive: June 16, 2022

For Immediate Release: April 14, 2020
Media Contact:   Soledad Calvino, 415-972-3512, [email protected]

NOGALES, Ariz. – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that it will award over $255,000 for environmental projects benefitting the U.S.-Mexico border region between Arizona and the Mexican state of Sonora.  

“Protecting the public health of our border communities with Mexico is a top priority of EPA, and these grants and matching funds will provide a safer and healthier work environment for the community and our state, tribal, and federal partners as we monitor changes in air and water quality,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Improving the environmental health of tribes across the country is a core EPA value, and the border region remains one of our main focuses.”

The awards are given through the agency’s Border 2020: U.S.-Mexico Environmental Program. The recipient organizations will contribute an additional $101,000 to fund projects to: improve proper management of scrap vehicles and discarded electronics; build capacity on environmental health for three border tribes; and enhance sustainable stormwater management with green infrastructure alternatives.

“The mission of Border 2020 is to protect public health and the environment in the U.S.-Mexico border region,” said EPA’s Assistant Administrator for International and Tribal Affairs and the U.S. Border 2020 National Coordinator Chad McIntosh. “These projects will further the work that has led to significant environmental and health improvements in our border communities.”

“Addressing the complex environmental issues we face along the border is a priority we share with our colleagues in Mexico,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator John Busterud. “These projects will benefit communities on both sides of our shared border.”

The University of Arizona and the Inter-Tribal Council of Arizona will partner with three member tribes, the Tohono O’odham Nation, the Cocopah Tribe, and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, to identify environmental health priorities and training needs. They will then organize workshops to discuss integrated pest management and emergencies related to vector-borne disease.

The University of Sonora will conduct train-the-trainer workshops on safe practices to recycle discarded electronics (e-waste) in three communities. They will adapt guidance from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality’s (ADEQ) e-waste toolkit and develop a best practices manual for collection events.

Arizona State University, with key stakeholders from both sides of the border, will map green infrastructure options that would improve transboundary water flows during wet weather in Nogales, Sonora and Nogales, Arizona (Ambos Nogales). Land-use planning stakeholders will work with the public to remove legal and regulatory barriers and promote sustainable stormwater management options.

The Municipality of Nogales, Sonora, with the Sonoran state environmental commission (CEDES), will implement the scrap vehicle disposal guide developed by EPA and SEMARNAT (EPA’s federal counterpart in Mexico). They will conduct an inventory of “junk” vehicle and recycling centers, assess current practices, provide compliance assistance, and conduct workshops on best management practices.

These funds were awarded in partnership with the North American Development Bank under the Border 2020: U.S.-Mexico Environmental Program, a binational effort to protect human health and the environment in the U.S.-Mexico border region.

For more information on the Border 2020 Program, please visit: www.epa.gov/border2020.

For most recent information see our Region 9 Winter Newsletter for Border 2020

Learn more about EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region. Connect with us on Facebook and on Twitter.

EPA Modifies Cleanup Plan at Grasse River Superfund Site in Massena, New York

Contact: Larisa Romanowski, (518) 407-0400, [email protected]    

Albany, N.Y. (April 14, 2020) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has modified a plan to address sediment contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at the Grasse River Superfund Site (also called Alcoa Aggregation) in Massena, New York. The modification calls for removal of an additional 90,000 cubic yards of sediment from an area of the river near Snug Harbor, instead of capping.

“EPA continues to listen closely and respond to the needs of this community as a priority, and we are working hard with our state and tribal partners to advance the cleanup of this critically important river system,” said EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez. “The modification to the plan will provide for the removal of more sediment and will ensure that the new tugboat can operate efficiently and effectively, all while remaining on track with the project.”

Snug Harbor is a small embayment (an embayment is a part of a body of water that extends beyond the general shoreline) on the north shore of the Grasse River, located about a third of a mile upstream from where it joins the St. Lawrence River. The change is being made to accommodate a new, larger tugboat purchased by the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, a wholly-owned government corporation, which operates its tugboat out of Snug Harbor. The new tugboat will have greater engine power and will require deeper navigational draft than its current tugboat. As a result, Snug Harbor and the channel leading to the harbor from the St. Lawrence River will need to be dredged, with capping as necessary, to maintain the protectiveness of the cleanup remedy.

In 2013, EPA selected a cleanup plan for the lower Grasse River that called for capping of 284 acres of river bottom in the main channel, removal of approximately 109,000 cubic yards of PCB-contaminated sediment from near-shore areas, and backfilling of dredged areas with clean material. The dredging and backfilling of near-shore areas required under EPA’s original plan was completed in 2019.

Howmet Aerospace Inc. (formerly Arconic Inc.) is responsible for performing the work at the site. The estimated cost associated with the original plan was $243 million; the additional dredging work is estimated to cost $22.5 million. EPA, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe are working together on the oversight of the various components of the project.

It is anticipated that the dredging work around the Snug Harbor area will begin in 2020 along with the capping required under EPA’s original plan and habitat reconstruction work to impacted areas. The dredging is currently planned to be completed in 2020. Capping and habitat reconstruction work will continue through next year. All in-river work is anticipated to be completed by 2022.

The EPA document that discusses the modification to EPA’s original cleanup plan, called the “Explanation of Significant Differences,” is part of the Administrative Record file for the site remedy and  is available for public review on EPA’s site webpage www.epa.gov/superfund/alcoa-aggregate.

Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at www.twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/eparegion2.

20-021                                                         

               #    #    #