Learn the Issues

This page shows all of the pages at www.epa.gov that are tagged with Learn the Issues.

  • Smart Growth and Housing

    This page describes how a smart growth approach to housing can help communities and their residents be better stewards of the environment and achieve more affordable communities.

  • Attracting Infill Development in Distressed Communities: 30 Strategies

    This report gives 30 strategies distressed communities can use to attract infill development to help revitalize their neighborhoods.

  • 2006 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement Booklet

    2006 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement Booklet displays the winners of the 2006 Smart Growth Achievement Awards along with their projects and accomplishments that earned them this recognition.

  • Smart Growth and Water

    This page contains resources that communities can use to integrate green infrastructure into streets and neighborhoods to reduce stormwater runoff, use water more efficiently, and protect water from pollution.

  • Location and Green Building

    This page explains the relationship between a building's location and its environmental and community impacts.

  • What is the status of the cleanup at the site?

    In October 2023, it was announced that the excavation work, which removed the known areas of contaminated soil at the derailment site, was complete. The soil double-check work has been ongoing for months and is expected to continue into the fall. The timeline of our expected completion plans for final…

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  • When can we access the streams again?

    The upcoming cleanup efforts will focus on oil-based compounds which, based on recent sampling, are the only derailment-related contaminants remaining in the creeks. Please obey all posted signage and continue to avoid access in Sulphur and Leslie Runs until further notice.

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  • When will water no longer need to be collected to be returned to Sulphur Run?

    We anticipate in the next two-to-four weeks, this work will start in sections of the derailment site. Soil analysis during the double-check phase is needed to remove the hazardous waste listing from the collected wastewater. Data are showing that water flowing over or through sections of the derailment area do…

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  • Will there be an increase in turbidity (cloudiness or muddiness) or silt in the streams?

    The increased flow from this work is expected to be minimal and should not impact turbidity or silt.

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  • What is the status of the cleanup work in the streams?

    There is still more work to be done in Leslie and Sulphur Runs. EPA and Ohio EPA are reviewing the Norfolk Southern sediment mitigation workplan. More cleaning will likely start before April and is expected to continue through July.

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  • Will returning the natural flow of water to Sulphur Run disturb areas with sheen?

    Conditions in the streams are much improved because of previous cleanup work conducted in 2023. Although oily sheens remain, they are settled in the sediment and do not impact surface water unless disturbed. The increased water flow to Sulphur Run will be minimal and is not expected to disturb sheen…

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  • What has changed?

    For the past several months as the collected wastewater has gone through the system, sample results have shown that the wastewater meets the standards set for vinyl chloride and other derailment-caused contaminants without treatment, meaning it can be disposed of as non-hazardous waste. Testing of the collected wastewater will continue…

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  • Why treat the collected water?

    Water collected at the site has the potential to have come into contact with vinyl chloride and other contaminants from the derailment. After the collected wastewater is treated it is then tested, and if it is not hazardous, can be disposed of as non-hazardous waste.

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  • Why collect the rainwater and snowmelt around the derailment site?

    Until excavation work and confirmatory sampling are completed, any wastewater collected from the derailment site is considered a “listed hazardous waste” because it may have come into contact with vinyl chloride or other hazardous contaminants from the derailment. Even though the soil contamination has been removed, our double-check work is…

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  • July—August 2021 Newsletter

    News From EPA's Pacific Southwest Region (Region 9).

  • Seminars and Workshops in Environmental Economics

    upcoming and past seminars and workshops on environmental economics, climate science, and climate economics

  • Capacity-Building Programs Under the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR)

    The United States signed the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) in August 2004 with five Central American countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua) and the Dominican Republic.

  • January—February 2023 Newsletter

    Check out our newsletter for stories about the Regional Administrator’s travels, addressing mercury contamination at a Superfund site, protecting public health in Hawai'i, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to protect drinking water, and more!

  • Public Participation Guide: Glossary of Guide Terms

    Glossary of public participation terms.

  • Greening America's Communities

    Technical assistance program to help cities and towns develop an implementable vision of distinctive, environmentally friendly neighborhoods using green infrastructure and other sustainable design strategies.