Latest news with #KevinMcOmber
Epoch Times
24-05-2025
- Health
- Epoch Times
EPA Granting Funds to Monitor Bacterial Infestation in US Beaches
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will provide $9.7 million in grant funding to states to be used for monitoring bacterial presence at beaches and assessing the safety of these places for beachgoers, the agency said in a May 23 Funds shall be used to monitor the quality of water at coastal and Great Lakes beaches, with grant recipients required to 'notify the public if elevated levels of illness-causing bacteria make swimming unsafe,' the EPA said. 'Millions of Americans will travel to the beach this summer to relax or play in the water. They will make lifelong memories and provide a boon to local economies,' said EPA acting Assistant Administrator for Water Peggy Browne. 'With $9.7 million from EPA, states and local authorities can help ensure that our beaches are open for business and that beachgoers can swim and splash without fear of getting sick.' The funds are to be disbursed to eight EPA regions, with each region composed of multiple states. The largest grant will go to EPA Region 4, with six states in the bloc—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and North Carolina—sharing $1.89 million, according to another May 23 Related Stories 5/21/2025 5/14/2025 Funds allocated to Region 4 are expected to 'help ensure safe beaches along the 2,035 miles of coastland in the Southeastern states, protecting public health while promoting tourism and economic development,' said EPA Regional Administrator Kevin McOmber. According to the EPA, the $9.7 million funding advances two goals—cooperative federalism and making sure that U.S. citizens have access to safe and clean water. These goals support EPA's 'Powering the Great American Comeback' initiative, a 'In his first term, President Trump advanced conservation, reduced toxic emissions in the air, and cleaned up hazardous sites, while fostering economic growth for families across the country. We remain committed to these priorities in this administration,' Zeldin said. Bacteria in Beach Waters Over the past years, there have been several instances of beaches being shut down across the United States due to concerns about high bacterial presence. In June last year, several beaches in Massachusetts were Swimming in unsafe waters can lead to respiratory issues such as sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, earache, fever, skin rash, abdominal pain, and itching. The state's Department of Public Health attributed the bacterial presence to heavy rains, saying a rainstorm washes the bacteria or excessive nutrients on land into the water, thus enabling small populations of these microbes to 'rapidly reproduce to unsafe levels.' A May 20 'Last year, 80% of beaches and sampling sites tested (483 of 604) yielded at least one high bacteria result that exceeded state health standards. This shows the importance of regular water quality monitoring at the beach to protect public health and safe recreation,' it said. The report listed the top 10 beaches with high bacterial presence. The Walkomo Stream at Koloa Landing and the Kahalu'u beaches in Hawaii, as well as the Park View Kayak Launch in Florida, took the top three spots, with samples from these sites having a bacteria rate of 90 percent or above. Four more beaches on the list had bacteria rates above 50 percent. At each of these beaches, 'Surfrider Foundation chapters are consistently measuring high bacteria levels that exceed state health standards for recreational water,' the report said. 'These Beach Bacteria Hot Spots represent a variety of recreational waters and access points that are important to local communities, yet water quality conditions could be putting public health at risk.'
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
EPA announces start for cleanup of Atlanta neighborhood contaminated with lead
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the cleanup of Atlanta's Lindsay Street Park area in the English Avenue neighborhood had started. The northwest Atlanta community is including in the EPA's work to clean up the Westside Lead Superfund Site. Over the next three months, the EPA will have work crews excavating up to two feet of lead-contaminated soil, dispose of it off-site, then replace the contaminated soil with clean fill and topsoil. They'll also restore the landscaping. On the city's end of things, Atlanta will replace the park's playground equipment before it reopens. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The playground itself has been closed since 2022. Channel 2 Action News covered in years past when the federal government started its efforts to clean up lead waste in the soil of several Atlanta neighborhoods, including Vine City and English Avenue. TRENDING STORIES: Today marks 20 years since deadly Fulton County Courthouse shooting rampage GA church daycare employee accused of giving Benadryl to toddlers to make them go to sleep Suspect in 77-year-old woman's murder hasn't had his mental health evaluation yet The EPA proposed adding the Westside Superfund site to the Superfund National Priorities List so resources could be assigned in the long-term for cleaning up the area in 2021. It made the list in 2022, according to the federal agency. In 2023, $1 billion in funding was allocated to clean up nearly two dozen sites with lead contamination. 'This federal-state-local partnership between EPA, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division and the City of Atlanta will get children back on the playground and residents back to enjoying their park,' Administrator Kevin McOmber of EPA's Southeast Region said in a statement. 'We are proud to play a role in making Lindsay Street Park safe for children.' According to the EPA, the park first opened in 2015 as the English Avenue community's first public park. It was built across six once-blighted lots with support from the community and several companies and organizations, but three years later, researchers found lead contamination, leading to the need for cleanup. Now, the EPA says the work is underway. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
