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News Releases from Region 06

EPA awards Oklahoma Corporation Commission over $1.2M to protect groundwater

08/12/2020
Contact Information: 
Joe Hubbard or Jennah Durant at 214-665-2200 or r6press@epa.gov

DALLAS – (Aug. 12, 2020) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded more than $1.2 million to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission to protect groundwater from underground injection or disposal wells and correct leaking storage tanks.

“EPA’s top priority is helping our state partners achieve their environmental goals and protect human health,” said Regional Administrator Ken McQueen.  “Providing safe drinking water to all communities is a top priority of the Trump administration. EPA Region 6 funds projects and programs that will help states achieve that goal by preventing the contamination of drinking water resources.”

EPA regularly provides financial assistance to support activities for cleaning up petroleum leaks. The funds may also be used to perform technical reviews of permit applications, perform on-site field investigations and conduct interviews and visual observations for compliance assurance.

This action awarded $712,914 to Okla. remediate leaks from storage tanks as part of the Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) program and $491,464 to develop, implement and inspect leaking sites.  

The mission of the EPA is to protect public health. This grant helps ensure American citizens have safe sources of drinking water through a cooperative effort between EPA, state and local governments. In 1986, Congress created the LUST Trust Fund to address petroleum releases from federally regulated underground storage tanks (USTs) by amending the Solid Waste Disposal Act. In 2005, the Energy Policy Act expanded eligible uses of the Trust Fund to include certain leak prevention activities.

For more about EPA grants: https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/grants

For more about underground injection control: https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/uic

Connect with EPA Region 6:

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eparegion6 

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/EPAregion6

Activities in EPA Region 6: http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/region6.htm 

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