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EPA Conference Focuses on Greener Cleanups

Release Date: 01/21/2010
Contact Information: Roy Seneca seneca.roy@epa.gov, 215-814-5567

PHILADELPHIA (Jan. 21, 2010) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is holding a two-day conference Feb. 10-11 at Drexel University in Philadelphia to explore the most environmentally safe methods to clean up and revitalize contaminated properties.

The Green Cleanup Symposium will feature presentations from the nation’s top thinkers on how to properly clean up abandoned or contaminated properties so that the land can be reused as a safe and sustainable community resource.

“By conducting cleanups with innovative green techniques in mind, we can further reduce our footprint and demonstrate how we value our land as a natural, cultural, and economic resource,” said Shawn M. Garvin, administrator for EPA’s mid-Atlantic region.

Cleaning up sites can be viewed as "green" from the perspective of the cleanup improving environmental and public health conditions. However, cleanup activities use energy, water and materials that create an environmental footprint of its own. Over time, EPA has learned how to optimize environmental performance and implement protective cleanups that are greener by taking steps to minimize that footprint.

Some examples of utilizing greener cleanup techniques include using equipment that emits less particulate matter to the air, sizing equipment accurately to avoid wasted energy, water, and material, and using renewable energy or recycled material to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and conserve resources.

More information on the conference and registration forms is available at: http://www.drexel.edu/cities/greencleanupsymposium.html .