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U.S. EPA ANNOUNCES ARIZONA ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE GRANT SELECTIONS

Release Date: 8/8/1995
Contact Information: Lois Grunwald, U.S. EPA, (415)744-1588

(San Francisco)-- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) today announced that it has awarded a total of $147,147 to eight Arizona state and community services and public interest groups as part of the agency's environmental justice awards grant program.

     "The grants will help these groups work in their communities to ensure that the benefits of environmental protection are shared by everyone," said Felicia Marcus, administrator of U.S. EPA's western regional office.  "The aim of our environmental justice program is to achieve equal environmental protection, regardless of race, ethnicity, culture, or income."

     The Arizona grants are part of $3 million awarded by U.S. EPA to 174 community-based organizations, tribal governments and academic institutions to address environmental justice issues and concerns in communities throughout the United States.

     The recipients are:

Arizona Department of Health Services, Phoenix, ($18,585) will inform farmworkers in southeastern Arizona about pesticide- related illnesses by presenting a play in Spanish, performed by a local community theater group, and making it available in book form in Spanish.

Dine Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment, Winslow, ($20,000) will initiate a recycling and clean up program for the Dilkon, Teesto, and Seba Dalkai Navajo communities.  The project will present informational workshops, establish a recycling drop-off center, and teach about risk reduction and pollution prevention.

Don't Waste Arizona, Phoenix ($20,000), a Navajo grassroots organization, will work with residents near the Black Mesa Coal Mine to identify environmental concerns.  The alliance will conduct an environmental health needs assessment survey and develop an outreach and training program.

El Puelbo Clinic, TCE Program, Tuscon ($20,000), will train and organize volunteers to conduct a door-to-door campaign in the community adjacent to the Tucson International Airport Superfund site to increase the Latino community's knowledge of TCE exposure and health issues and the health services available at the El Pueblo Clinic.

Living is for Everyone (LIFE), Nogales, (20,000), will work with other community groups to address the environmental health issues in the Nogales area.  The project will provide environmental health workshops, a quarterly bilingual newsletter, informational hotline, monthly lupus screening clinics, and provide outreach and case management services.  LIFE will work with community members to encourage their leadership skills and to share information with friends and neighbors.

Naco Border Commerce, Naco, (20,000), will develop a strategy for collecting and treating wastewater, a model agreement with Naco and the Sonoran government for collection and treatment of wastewater, and a public awareness program.

Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Scottsdale, ($8,860) will develop a community environmental awareness demonstration project intended to build advocacy and focus on environmental responsibility.  The project will include an environmental priorities survey of the community and several workshops designed to raise awareness and provide a forum to exchange information.
The environmental issues will include: transportation of hazardous wastes, lead, radon, indoor air and water quality, and pollution prevention.

Tufts University, School of Medicine, Boston, MA ($19,7020) will collect and distribute oral histories and visual images of Navajo uranium miners.  The project will capture, through audio recordings and visual images, the experiences of Navajo uranium miners who were exposed to hazardous levels of radiation from the 1940s through the 1970s.


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