US-Mexico Environmental Projects To Be Announced
Posted: 10/29/2009
Last Updated:
1328 days ago
Plans for $10.8 million in funding for cross-border environmental projects are expected to be announced Thursday as part of a U.S.-Mexico summit on goals to be reached in 2012.Safe drinking water, getting rid of old tires, disaster readiness, improving air quality and border infrastructure are among the issues being discussed at The National Coordinators Meeting.U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials, their counterparts from the Mexico's Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources, as well nongovernmental groups and native Americans on both sides are participating in the discussion."As partners, the U.S. and Mexico continue to face tough environmental issues along the ever-growing border area," said Laura Yoshii, acting regional administrator for the EPA's Pacific Southwest Region. "Our joint efforts have led to significant progress in improving the environment and quality of life for the U.S., Mexican and tribal communities of the region, and we look forward to even greater successes in the future."The meeting to first of its kind held on an Indian reservation.Among the cross-border projects completed this year toward the 2012 goals include:
Providing drinking water and wastewater infrastructure through 74 certified projects benefiting more than seven million of the 12 million people that call the border region home.
Cleaning up of more than 2,500 tons of hazardous waste from the abandoned "Metales and Derivados" lead recovery facility in Tijuana.
The signing of 15 "sister city" agreements on emergency preparedness.
Providing through the U.S. Tribal Border infrastructure program more than 8,100 homes with safe drinking water or basic sanitation.
Removal of more than 4 million scrap tires in Ciudad Juarez, Matamoros, Reynosa, Piedras Negras, San Luis Rio Colorado, Palomas and Ascension.The Border 2012 U.S.-Mexico Environmental Program is aimed at protecting the environment and public health for 10 states on both sides of the 2,000-mile border.
