4-09-09, 10:57 am
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allocated close to $300 million this week in funds appropriated through the economic stimulus package passed last February. Those funds have been sent to states for 'shovel ready' environmental clean-up projects and the agency's 'clean diesel' program.
According to an EPA statement released this week, $197 million will be used to assess and clean up underground storage tank petroleum leaks. Another, nearly $90 million has been sent to each state and the District of Columbia to retrofit an estimated 11 million public buses to use cleaner alternatives to diesel or help reduce use of fuel.
“We’re providing immediate growth opportunities for communities across the nation, as well as long-term protection from dangerous pollution in the land and water,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “EPA is putting people to work by serving our core mission of protecting human health and the environment.”
The greatest potential hazard from a leaking underground petroleum storage tank is that hazardous substances seep into the soil and contaminate groundwater. About half of all Americans get drinking water from groundwater sources, the agency estimated.
The clean diesel projects could reduce premature deaths, asthma attacks and other respiratory ailments, lost work days, and many other health impacts every year. Experts believe that the health benefits from diesel emissions reductions outweigh the costs by a ratio of up to 13-to-1, according to the EPA.
About $6 million of the underground petroleum storage tank clean-up money has been set aside for Indian tribal governments. An additional $108 million for the clean diesel program will be awarded in June, the EPA stated. Tribal governments and non-profit groups will be able to compete along with state and local governments for those resources.
The EPA did not provide estimates on the number of jobs created or saved through these two efforts, but the efforts are national in scope, are labor intensive and have clear positive impacts on the environment, health and safety.
