More federal money is coming to Arizona to support clean drinking water projects across the state.
Congressman Ruben Gallego says the state is getting more than $31 million in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. That money will be dispersed into two EPA programs focused on ensuring community access to safe drinking water.
On a visit to Tucson this month, Regional EPA Administrator Martha Guzman said funding has already been put toward cleaning up former wastewater facilities in Arizona and groundwater contaminated with PFAS — a group of human-made chemicals found in a range of products.
“And so what we have with PFAS is we had the utilization largely of firefighting foam that people were using to keep communities safe. And unfortunately, it’s a huge contaminant,” she said.
Contamination in the Tucson area is thought to have come from a special firefighting foam used for years at airports and military bases nearby. Guzman said more money is still needed for the clean up to continue.
The EPA finalized the first federally-enforceable limits on PFAS in drinking water earlier this year and set aside more than $1 billion in funding for local governments to clean up contamination.
Tucson was among the first places to receive funds.
“The needs of Arizona alone have already been exceeded by their allocation of the PFAS funding,” she said. “So we’re at the stage where we set the public health limit, we’re very clear, everyone knows what we’re aiming for.”
A U.S. Geological Survey study released this week shows more than 20% of the U.S. population may rely on groundwater with detectable levels of the chemicals.
Guzman was in Tucson touring a local wastewater facility slated for cleanup. The agency is awarding a $500,000 grant to a local effort to develop the former Roger Road Wastewater Reclamation Facility on Tucson’s northwest side.
The site was decommissioned a decade ago, and officials have since been working to clean up hazardous materials like asbestos and lead.
"They have a vision to clean up this old wastewater area, clean up some of the soils and some of the hazardous materials here, so they can build a new asset for the community,” Guzman said. Guzman says the federal money will help Tucson create an expanded wetland park at the roughly 50-acre site, along with changes suggested by community members.
