EPA awards $16 million for Navajo Nation environmental programs

The Navajo Nation will benefit from $16 million in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), set aside for the tribe’s environmental and drinking water and wastewater infrastructure efforts.
  
“The Navajo Nation continues to make great strides in environmental protection and improving public health,” EPA Acting Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest Alexis Strauss said. “Almost $6.9 million will be used to improve wastewater sanitation by installing 33 new septic tanks and drain fields across the nation. An estimated 567 homes will benefit, including 157 that will receive wastewater services for the first time.”
 
The bulk of the $16 million will go towards water infrastructure, with the Indian Health Service receiving $10.6 million to support the Navajo Nation in drinking water and waste water infrastructure improvements, as well as training plant operators and providing technical assistance.

Another $2.4 million will go directly to the Navajo Nation for water-related projects, including monitoring, protecting and restoring watersheds, improving water and energy efficiency and wastewater reclamation and treatment systems.
 
The remaining $3 million in funding will also go directly to the Navajo Nation and will be utilized in other environmental programs, including community outreach and community education efforts.