All News Releases By Date

EPA Region 7, Joplin City Officials Schedule Oct. 4 News Conference on Funding to Assist with Tornado Recovery

Release Date: 10/03/2012
Contact Information: Chris Whitley, 913-551-7394 (office), 816-518-2794 (cell), [email protected]

Environmental News

NEWS MEDIA ADVISORY

(Kansas City, Kan., Oct. 3, 2012) - Officials from EPA and the City of Joplin, Mo., will hold a news conference on Thursday, October 4, in Joplin, about an announcement of significant funding from EPA to assist the city’s continuing work to rebuild from the May 2011 tornado.

On May 22, 2011, an EF-5 tornado swept through Joplin, killing 161 people, injuring more than 1,000 others, and damaging or destroying nearly 8,000 structures, including homes, businesses, schools and churches. In the months that followed, under missions assigned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, EPA Region 7 staff and contractors conducted air monitoring for particulate matter and asbestos; and oversaw the collection, recovery and recycling or safe disposal of hazardous wastes, electronic goods and white goods from throughout the area of destruction.

In December 2011, in response to a request from the City of Joplin, EPA Region 7 issued a cooperative agreement that provided $500,000 to help cover costs of soil sampling and remediation at properties where lead-contaminated soils were exposed by the tornado or related recovery work.

Details of EPA’s latest funding announcement to assist Joplin will be shared at the event:

WHAT: Announcement by EPA and Joplin city officials

WHEN: 11 a.m. Thursday, October 4, 2012

WHERE: Parr Hill Park, East 18^th Street and South Kansas Avenue, Joplin, Mo. 64804 (Pavilion in southwest corner of park)

WHO: EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks; Barnes Johnson, Deputy Director, EPA’s Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation (OSRTI); Joplin Mayor Melodee Colbert-Kean; Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr; and Joplin City Health Director Dan Pekarek