Learn the Issues
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Documents from 2019 Diesel Emission Reduction Funding Opportunities Workshop
Presentations from EPA Workshop on Diesel Emission Reduction Funding Opportunities held Nov. 19, 2019 in Davenport, IA.
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Follow-Up: The Nexus of Restoration and Economy for Local Aquaculture in Southeast New England
Aquaculture can be a sensitive subject depending on who you talk to. If done poorly, near-shore aquacultural products, like oysters, risk over-saturating a niche market and threaten the livelihoods of local shellfishermen...
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Ivy City Air Monitoring Project
EPA Mid-Atlantic Region information and results from air monitoring in the Ivy City community 2023
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How do we know that we have not been exposed to contamination from the Landfill for the past 40+ years?
EPA works closely with its partner, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) in evaluating potential health exposures from waste sources. ATSDR has the ability to look at the cancer registry data to evaluate potential past exposures, while EPA’s role is to evaluate current and future exposure. ATSDR…
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Is EPA planning on taking samples from the basements in the homes you are sampling in the Norwood community? If not, why not?
EPA is not planning to collect samples from residential basements or crawl spaces at this time. EPA installed six groundwater wells within the Old Norwood Dump, Norwood Lower Park, and the Winona Homes neighborhood. Groundwater wells will not be placed on private residential properties. The wells will be used to…
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How does EPA develop a “sampling plan” for a site like the Norwood Landfill Site?
EPA uses the information available, including community input, regarding the boundaries and geographic areas of waste that may have been deposited or where contaminated soil may have been placed. The team selects its soil sampling locations based on those areas and consults historic aerial images that help depict those boundaries…
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What state or federal agencies are responsible for evaluating records from the PADOH cancer registry? Are all types of cancers considered in this evaluation [including rare and/or environmentally associated cancers]?
A few important items to note regarding the Pennsylvania Cancer Registry: PADOH’s Pennsylvania Cancer Registry is a statewide data system responsible for collecting information on all new cases of cancer diagnosed or treated in Pennsylvania. It is part of the National Program of Cancer Registries administered by the Centers for…
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Soak Up the Rain Outreach Tools
EPA has produced a Soak Up the Rain business card, posters, & a banner that can be downloaded & copied for use by citizens, municipalities, watershed & planning organizations & others in their stormwater/green infrastructure education & outreach efforts.
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What year was the landfill closed? What if any regulations would the Landfill have to have complied with during the closure process?
During the 1960s, there were minimal environmental regulations regarding landfills and their closure protocol. Historic aerial photographs do not depict organized landfilling via waste disposal on the land after 1963, indicating that most of the activities associated with the Norwood Landfill Site occurred prior to regulations. Additionally, there are no…
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What exactly is EPA looking for when it takes samples from the soil around residential homes?
Typically, a person’s primary exposure to soil occurs within the top two feet – working or playing in the yard, gardening, tracking soil into the home, etc. EPA collected samples from the top two feet of soil during the site investigation, focusing the evaluation in the area of the highest…
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What does it mean when EPA finds contamination that “exceeds screening levels?”
Screening levels are not the same as cleanup or action levels. An exceedance of a screening level indicates the need for additional evaluation, potentially including a site-specific risk assessment.
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A Toolbox for Corrective Action: Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Facilities Investigation Remedy Selection Track
The purpose of this toolbox is to help EPA Regional staff and their partners to take advantage of the efficiency and quality gains from the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Facilities Investigation Remedy Selection Track (FIRST) approach.
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Protecting Source Water with the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds
This fact sheet compares and contrasts the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund programs and provides an example of how the Skagit Public Utility District in Washington, and multiple state agencies, collaborated to secure funds from both sou
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Source Water Assessments
This page describes source water assessments: studies or reports that generate information about significant potential contamination sources and the susceptibility of systems to contamination by these sources.
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How Can You Help Protect Source Water?
Learn how communities, citizen groups, and individuals can take an active role in protecting their drinking water sources from contamination.
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Determine Susceptibility to Contaminant Sources
A key last step in conducting a source water assessment is to perform a risk analysis to determine the susceptibility of a public water system to current and potential sources of contamination.
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Federal Funding Opportunities for Source Water Protection
This factsheet identifies federal programs that can be leveraged for source water protection.
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Easy Things You Can Do To Protect Drinking Water Sources
A list of things an individual can do to help protect drinking water sources, many of which include involve hazardous waste and pollution.
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Hazardous Waste Recycling
EPA developed the hazardous waste recycling regulations to promote the reuse and reclamation of useful materials in a manner that is safe and protective of human health and the environment.
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Superfund Redevelopment Partnerships
Organizations that have partnered with EPA to support reuse of Superfund sites include the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA), Pollinator Partnership (P2), Rails to Trails Conservancy (RTC), The Trust for Public Land (TPL), and the U.S. Soccer Foundation.