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Texas-Coahuila-Nuevo León-Tamaulipas Regional Workgroup
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Project
Texas-Coahuila-Nuevo León-Tamaulipas Water
EPA Region 6 and SEMARNAT, in cooperation with other federal, state, and local participants, have provided funding and technical assistance for the planning and construction of infrastructure in the cities of Matamoros and Nuevo Laredo, in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico, to virtually eliminate the discharge of raw wastewater into the Rio Grande River. This reduces the potential for human contact with wastewater and organisms that transmit disease. In November 2004, EPA contributed $20 million through the Border Environment Infrastructure fund (BEIF), toward the total project cost of $57.8 million for improvements to the water and wastewater collection and treatment systems in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas.
Promote operational efficiency of water utilities in the border cities of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. Institute a training and assessment program with the cooperation of FUndacion Mexico-Estados Unidos para la Ciencia (FUMEC) that will prepare a group of Mexican utility operators with theoretical and hands-on training to improve the operational efficiency of water plants in the region.
Texas-Coahuila-Nuevo León-Tamaulipas Air
EPA Region 6 awarded the Texas State Energy Conservation Office a $555,000 grant to help the Laredo Independent School District (LISD) retrofit 50 school buses to burn ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel. This grant also finances the 2-year provision of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel to LISD from a refinery near San Antonio. This project aims to reduce the exposure of school children to fine particulate matter, and will serve as a demonstration to nearby Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.
A new EPA-funded project aims to reduce emissions of PM2.5 & ozone precursors from U.S.-Mexican border industries using principles of industrial ecology. Experts developed an environmental management system (EMS) based on industrial and green engineering principles and existing best practices for the sugar cane industries in the region.
Texas-Coahuila-Nuevo León-Tamaulipas Land
This project will analyze available tire recycling technology in order to determine local needs for incorporating crumb rubber applications, estimate the quantity of waste tires generated annually, and construct and operate a crumb rubber facility in the region.
This project will evaluate applications of waste tires (tire bales) as a sustainable technology solution for highway engineering projects, and will focus on an evaluation of waste tires as roadway subgrade and base material. The project will also provide science-based information to help solid waste managers process and reuse the waste tires in a safe manner.
Texas-Coahuila-Nuevo León-Tamaulipas Health
EPA Region 6 helped develop and implement a program to evaluate levels of pesticide exposure in the Rio Grande colonia, allowing families to take action to reduce pesticide exposure. The program also provided training for 12 university students at the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo León by providing logistical support during field sampling trips. The program is sponsored by an EPA Grant to the Pesticide Exposure Surveillance Program in Texas (PEST), part of the Environmental Epidemiology and Toxicology Division of the Texas Department of Health.
Initiative surveys Laredo citizens, collects waste tires from illegal dumpsites
Through EPA funding, urine samples of 100 individuals from Laredo, Texas were collected and analyzed for high concentrations of toxic substances. Samples were examined for arsenic, lead, mercury, and chromium. In other samples, tests for chromium were replaced with tests for cadmium and creatine. A third set of samples added cobalt and thalium. Through September 2005, the project team had collected samples and completed environmental health surveys from 80 people. The data built on a previous state-funded project that included samples from 50 subjects living on the former Laredo Air Force Base and another 50 throughout Webb County.
Additionally, the project proposed the collection of at least 16,000 used tires in order to reduce the number of tires in illegal dumpsites, which tend to collect rainwater and provide breeding grounds for mosquitoes that transmit diseases. By this report’s publication date, the project had collected 10,843 tires, but had changed its objective from 16,000 to a total of 12,000 used tires.
Texas-Coahuila-Nuevo León-Tamaulipas Emergency Prepardness & Response
EPA Region 6 helped develop and implement sister city plans along the Texas-Coahuila-Nuevo Leon-Tamaulipas border. The plans that have been signed are:
- McAllen/Reynosa - February 2001
- Laredo/Nuevo Laredo - December 2001
- Brownsville/Matamoros - May 2002
- Weslaco/Rio Bravo - April 2003
- Del Rio/Ciudad Acuna - August 2001
- Eagle Pass/Piedras Negras – March 1998
EPA Region 6 has implemented several binational and trinational exercises to help develop preparedness and prevention efforts in the region. These efforts include risk and consequence analysis, risk reduction, and counter-terrorism. One training exercise was implemented in conjunction with the Kickapoo Tribe. EPA Region 6 has conducted several binational training sessions in the areas of hazardous materials, field operation guides, radiological responses, and incident command/unified command systems.
Texas-Coahuila-Nuevo León-Tamaulipas Environmental Stewardship
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