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Region 5 EPA Announces 2010 Enforcement and Compliance Results

Release Date: 12/06/2010
Contact Information: Phillippa Cannon, 312-353-6218, cannon.phillippa@epa.gov

For Immediate Release
No. 10-OPA147

Almost 170 Million Pounds of Pollution Eliminated

Chicago (Dec. 6, 2010) – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 today released its annual enforcement and compliance results as part of the Agency’s national enforcement announcement. Region 5 includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

In FY 2010, Region 5 took enforcement and compliance actions that required polluters to pay more than $12 million in civil penalties and spend an estimated $4.3 billion on pollution controls and cleanups. Another $1.8 million will be spent on environmental projects that benefit communities. Liable parties committed to spend $1 billion to clean up Superfund sites.

“In the last year, almost 170 million pounds of harmful air, land and water pollution were reduced, treated or eliminated through Region 5 enforcement actions,” said Regional Administrator Susan Hedman. “EPA’s aggressive enforcement program benefits our communities by providing cleaner air and water and returning contaminated properties to productive use.”

Detailed information about enforcement actions concluded in FR 2010 at more than 4,500 facilities is available on an interactive map on the EPA website. The map shows facilities and sites where civil and criminal enforcement actions were taken for alleged violations of U.S. environmental laws regulating air, water, and land pollution. The mapping tool also displays community-based activities locations of environmental justice grants awarded in FY 2010 and Environmental Justice Showcase Communities.

The release of the EPA’s enforcement and compliance results and the accompanying mapping tool are part of EPA’s commitment to transparency. They are intended to improve public access to data and provide the public with tools to learn about EPA’s efforts to protect human health and the environment in communities across the nation.

Learn more about the FY 2010 Annual Enforcement and Compliance Results: https://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/reports/endofyear/eoy2010/index.html.