U.S. EPA Mountains and Plains Region

On the road again with RA Western!🤠✈️

First stop: Moran, Wyoming, where RA Western and our Headquarters and Region 8 colleagues attended the Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (ASTSWMO) meeting. It was a great opportunity to collaborate on Brownfields, hazardous waste, materials management, Superfund programs, and continuing to strengthen our stewardship across the West.🏔️

Next stop: Park City, Utah, where RA Western and Chief of Staff Woodward joined the Gigawatt Summit hosted by Gov. Spencer J. Cox . RA Western participated in a panel and met with national leaders and our Administrator, Lee Zeldin , to discuss the Great American Comeback and advancing U.S. leadership in AI. RA Western and Administrator Zeldin also toured local water treatment facilities to see on‑the‑ground operations and partnerships that support clean, reliable water.🚰

Grateful to our state, Tribal, and community partners for the warm welcome and collaboration.💪

Last month, Region 8 officials traveled to North Dakota for a visit focused on partnership and progress. 💪 Officials toured the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation's Native Green Grow greenhouse, permitted by EPA, to see firsthand how local food production and sustainability efforts are making an impact. 🌿 Using natural gas from nearby oil and gas wells, the Tribe is able to power the greenhouses to grow food year-round, providing healthy community-grown produce to the community no matter the weather conditions. ☀️

The team also attended the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference, engaging with industry leaders and partners on the future of energy and environmental stewardship. 🛢🤝

From field to lab, start to finish. 🏁Our EPA Region 8 colleagues are training on best practices in water-quality sampling to produce accurate data that safeguards waters across CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, and WY.💧This ensures that we can support our local, state and Tribal communities.💪

From field to lab, start to finish. 🏁Our EPA Region 8 colleagues are training on best practices in water-quality sampling to produce accurate data that safeguards waters across CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, and WY. 💧This ensures that we can support our local, state and Tribal communities.💪

What happened across Region 8 in May? 🧐

✅ Major Investments in Drinking Water Systems to Address PFAS and Lead Service Lines
✅ Guidance on Flaring at Oil Wells to Promote American Energy Dominance
✅ New Interactive Map Breaking Down Permitting Authorities: https://www.epa.gov/permits/epa-permitting-authority-map

🔗Learn more and keep up with all the latest news from EPA: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/search

Water 💧 has literally shaped the landscape of the American West, and continues to do so today. From carving landmarks like the Grand Canyon and Black Canyon of the Gunnison to determining where people settled and succeeded, water has always been a critical resource for the arid and semi-arid areas of Region 8 and beyond.

Self-governing water pump windmills like the one in this post were a common sight throughout the west, and can still be seen dotting the landscape. They allowed settlement in areas where there was little or no surface water and powered the westward expansion by steam locomotive.
Sandstone potholes in Utah form ephemeral ecosystems, with animals and insects lying eggs that remain dormant through droughts, harboring life in the harshest conditions. And speaking of potholes, the Prairie Potholes region in the Dakotas provides homes to more than 50 percent of North America's waterfowl, driving ecosystems and economies.

Springs often provided the only reliable, year-round water source for hundreds of miles and acted as watering holes for wildlife and ranching alike. Many of these drove settlement, and lend their names to cities like Colorado Springs to this day.

You can read all about how EPA protects this critical resource that continues to shape the West at https://www.epa.gov/environmental-topics/water-topics

High country, higher UV. For every 1,000 feet up, UV increases about 2%. 🌄 Don’t let cool temps fool you - protect your skin and eyes year-round. ☀️🕶

🔗Learn more about sun safety: https://www.epa.gov/sunsafety/sun-safety-tips

Deep beneath North Dakota and Montana lies one of the country's most important energy resources: the Bakken Formation. ⚡⛽

What began as a difficult-to-access oil discovery in 1951 became a major driver of domestic energy production through advances in drilling and completion techniques such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Today, the Bakken supports jobs, local economies and domestic energy development across the region. 💰

Read more about how geology and innovation came together to unlock the Bakken!

Happy World Bee Day!🐝

Did you know there are nearly 1,000 native bee species in Colorado alone, including more than 25 species of bumble bees alone?

And while you may think of bees living in hives, most of the species in Region 8 are solitary, meaning each female builds her nest without a queen or workers, although they often live close together. Think of it like bee apartments! 🏨 You can find these nests in the ground, wood or hollow plant stems left over from the winter. These bees play a critical role in pollinating native plants, gardens and even crops. The Hunt's bumblebee pictured here on a rubber rabbitbrush in Wyoming is particularly effective at pollinating tomatoes, in addition to their native flowers.🌼

Get information about how EPA is working to protect these valuable pollinators and how you can do your part at the link below ⬇️🔗
https://www.epa.gov/pollinator-protection

Have you ever heard someone talk about a five-year review at a Superfund site but wondered what that really meant? What's the difference between protective long- or short-term measures? Wonder no more!

Five-year reviews are required by law, a normal part of the Superfund process and provide an opportunity to evaluate the remedies already in place and determine if they're still protecting human health and the environment🌿. These reviews generally happen every five years, as long as contaminated material remains onsite and future use of the site is restricted. But just because use is restricted, doesn't mean a site can't be used at all. Sites with restricted use may have restrictions on digging in certain areas or using groundwater. Restricted use sites may include commercial, residential, industrial or open spaces and trails; it just depends on the remedy, remaining contamination and specifics of the site!

Remedies are the methods we're using to remove, treat or otherwise address contamination at sites. This could be a protective cap, water treatment, chemical or biological treatment and more. There are typically two major classes of remedy which are addressed in five-year reviews: long-term and short-term. A site might have "short-term protective" remedies in place when the immediate threats are addressed, but more treatment is needed. One example of this could be when the majority of contaminated soils are contained, but water treatment is still needed. Immediate dangers are addressed, but chronic exposure may still be an issue. "Long-term protective" means the final remedy is in place and functioning properly and will continue to protect human health and the environment for the foreseeable future.

If you want to learn more about five-year reviews and protective measures, be sure to check out our website! 🔗➡️ https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-five-year-reviews

🪟💨Do you have a clean-air room in your home? With wildfire season quickly approaching, designating a space in your home that is protected from wildfire smoke is important to safeguarding your health. Creating a clean-air room is easy and only requires a few steps. Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8fcyfPhbjc