News Releases from Region 05

EPA visits Cincinnati, meets with state agency directors for Earth Week

CINCINNATI, Ohio (April 25, 2019) – Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Administrator Cathy Stepp met with the directors of state environmental agencies for Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin at EPA’s Cincinnati laboratory.

“I’m delighted to be joined by my state counterparts as we come together on some of the most pressing issues facing our region,” said Regional Administrator Cathy Stepp. “It’s been a productive day of collaboration against the backdrop of EPA’s state-of-the-art research facility.”

Topics covered during the two-day meeting include EPA’s Action Plans on lead and perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), EPA’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule, and how EPA’s research supports states. Attendees will also tour EPA’s laboratory, where scientists conduct a wide range of environmental and public health research.

EPA’s Office of Research and Development laboratory in Cincinnati conducts scientific projects and research activities in support of EPA’s mission - and specifically in support of EPA’s Action Plan on PFAS.  ORD’s PFAS research covers a range of topic areas including analytical methods for quantifying PFAS, toxicity assessments, drinking water treatment, industrial waste and remediation of contaminated sites, and municipal wastewater, waste management and environmental fate and transport. 

Earlier in the day, Regional Administrator Cathy Stepp celebrated Earth Week by visiting a local project that is improving water quality. Stepp was joined by Ohio EPA Director Laurie Stevenson and community stakeholders as they visited the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) of Cincinnati and received a tour of its innovative Lick Run Greenway. 

The Lick Run Greenway project highlights work that EPA, Ohio EPA and MSD are doing to address combined sewer overflows and to improve water quality, create new jobs and provide opportunities for neighborhood revitalization. EPA’s brownfields program helped clean up the site so that MSD could manage stormwater through a newly-built stream instead of conventional underground tunnels. The stream has proven to be an important asset in the revitalization of the local community.

EPA Regional Administrator Cathy Stepp with Chief of Staff Kurt Thiede, Ohio EPA Director Laurie Stevenson and Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) of Greater Cincinnati Interim Director Diana Christy at MSD's office on Thursday, April 25, 2019. 

EPA Regional Administrator Cathy Stepp receives a tour of Lick Run Greenway project in Cincinnati on Thursday, April 25, 2019.