Wallaces Farmer

EPA invests nearly $4 million in building resiliencyEPA invests nearly $4 million in building resiliency

Five universities split the funds and will conduct research to identify infrastructure solutions.

September 8, 2020

3 Min Read

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced $3,997,876 in funding to five institutions to conduct research to build resilience in communities and among groups who are more vulnerable to the potential environmental impacts of natural disasters.

The universities receiving the grants:

  • Iowa State University of Science and Technology in Ames, Iowa.

  • Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.

  • Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.

  • University of California – Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.

  • University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

Researchers will investigate topics such as understanding the effect of major coastal flooding events and identifying the most promising infrastructure solutions to reduce hurricane and flood-related industrial contaminant releases and exposures.

“As a nation, it is our duty to protect those among us who are the most vulnerable, particularly children and older adults,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “These grants will help protect our communities and provide the information they need to be prepared and stay safe.”

Research conducted by universities furthers preparedness efforts by aiming to understand how communities can become resilient to risks and protect the health and wellbeing of their most vulnerable groups – young children, older adults, and those who are less amenable to evacuation or relocation during disasters.

The grant projects

Iowa State University of Science and Technology in Ames, Iowa, was awarded an $800,000 grant through EPA’s Science to Achieve Results Program for a research project on building resilience in vulnerable, older adult communities facing increased exposure risks to wastewater contamination from flooding in Puerto Rico.

“Iowa State University has been a long-time partner with EPA, collaborating on agriculture research and environmental issues,” said EPA Region 7 Administrator Jim Gulliford. “I’m excited to see ISU tackle this challenge. It will also prove beneficial to us here in the Midwest because of our proximity to the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. We know first-hand how flooding affects small communities and vulnerable populations.”

Dr. Kaoru Ikuma, ISU Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, leads the research project that aims to improve the scientific understanding of how flooding can elevate the risk of exposure to wastewater-related contaminants among older adults in Puerto Rico. The outputs of this project will provide spatial information on contamination, psychosocial, and infrastructure vulnerabilities to risks associated with flooding, which will then be used to plan interventions for increasing resilience in the vulnerable, older adult populations. The ISU research project hopes to analyze and widely communicate the health risks of coastal flooding of contaminated sites on vulnerable communities to inform land use and disaster planning efforts.

The four other universities receiving grants through EPA’s Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Program for this work include:

  • Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, to assist communities in developing comprehensive strategies for building resilience to contaminant releases associated with natural hazards.

  • Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, to improve the resilience of underserved communities in Houston to hurricane- and flood-induced releases of metals and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from industrial facilities.

  • University of California – Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California., to understand the exposure risks that coastal flooding poses to vulnerable communities due to unintentional releases of hazardous materials from contaminated sites.

  • University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida., to understand the effects of flooding caused by extreme weather events on PFAS distribution and transport and how societal factors can exacerbate the impacts of PFAS exposure.

Source: EPA, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset. 

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