May—June 2020 Newsletter
Serving Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Pacific Islands, 148 Tribal NationsImproving Water Quality at the U.S.-Mexico Border
Transborder pollution has caused serious water quality problems in the Tijuana River Valley and along southern California beaches from Imperial Beach to Coronado. EPA is committed to addressing the environmental and public health risks from this pollution. There is now significant new funding for comprehensive, long-term solutions through the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement.
- San Diego Union-Tribune Op-Ed: Tijuana Sewage is Causing More Problems in the U.S. Here’s the EPA’s Plan to Address ItExit
- News Release: U.S. EPA Officials, Federal and Local Partners Charted Path Forward on Transboundary Sewage Challenge at Stakeholder Meeting
- U.S.-Mexico Border 2020 Program
Redeveloping a Superfund Site into a Place to Live, Work and Play
Monterey Park, CaliforniaThe former Operating Industries Landfill in Monterey Park, Calif. – which operated from 1948 until 1984 and contaminated air, groundwater, and soil with various organic and inorganic compounds from hazardous wastes – has been transformed into a hub of economic, recreational and residential activity. It now hosts the 500,000 square-foot Monterey Market Place shopping center and may be utilized for solar development.
- News Release: U.S. EPA Announces Cleanup Accomplishments, Including in Southern California, through the Superfund Program
- Superfund Accomplishments Report (PDF)(56 pp, 4 MB, About PDF)
Cleaning Up Contaminated Properties
In May, EPA announced that 13 communities in the Pacific Southwest were selected to receive a total of nearly $6.6 million to assess and clean up contaminated properties under the agency’s Brownfields Program. These funds will aid under-served and economically disadvantaged communities, including neighborhoods located in Opportunity Zones, in addressing abandoned industrial and commercial properties. These communities are among 151 selected nationally to receive grant awards totaling over $65.6 million.
- KJZZ Public Radio: EPA Grants $1.4 Million to Phoenix for Contamination CleanupExit
- KUNR Public Radio: Reno Lands EPA Funds to Help Revitalization EffortsExit
- Talanei: EPA Provides $300,000 for Harbor CleanupExit
- EPA's Brownfields Grants in the Pacific Southwest
Enforcement Update
Protecting Drinking Water Resources
EPA has reached a $6,521,025 settlement with 145 parties to clean up contaminated groundwater at the Omega Chemical Corporation Superfund site in Whittier, California. The settlement will help address the groundwater contamination to which these companies and others have contributed.