U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) announced that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will provide funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which help clean up the Carson River Mercury Site in Lyon and Storey Counties.
Cleanups like this help transform contaminated properties and create jobs in overburdened communities, while repurposing these sites for a wide range of uses, including public parks, retail businesses, office space, residences, warehouses, and solar power generation.
“Cleaning up legacy contamination sites in Northern Nevada is critical to keeping local communities safe from toxic chemicals and protecting our environment,” said Senator Rosen. “I’m proud to announce the funding I helped secure through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will go directly toward cleaning and restoring our communities, keeping Nevadans and local wildlife safe from exposure to harmful chemicals.”
Over a century ago, miners at what is now the Carson River Mercury Superfund site used mercury to process gold and silver ore. Over time, this process released an estimated 14 million pounds of mercury into the environment.
Thanks to President Biden’s historic investments in America, we are moving faster than ever before to progress clean up at contaminated sites – from manufacturing facilities to landfills – in communities across the country,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “But our work is not yet finished – we’re continuing to build on this momentum to ensure that communities living near many of the most serious uncontrolled or abandoned releases of contamination finally get the investments and protections they deserve.”
In 1990, the Carson River Mercury Superfund Site became part of the National Priorities List of Superfund sites, which consists of some of the most toxic sites in the country.
“This funding I delivered in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will go a long way in supporting the continued cleanup of communities impacted by legacy contamination,” said Senator Catherine Cortez Masto. “I’ll always fight to get Nevada the resources we need to keep our land and water clean and our families safe.”
Since the early 2000s, the EPA and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection have been working with local developers to sample residential areas, which has resulted in removing and/or capping contaminated soil.
(Senator Rosen Press and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
