The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded nearly $17 million dollars in grants to Arizona tribes for efforts supporting the advancement of environmental protections on tribal lands.
The Hopi Tribe will receive $1.3 million to fund a regional water system addressing concerns about arsenic and the delivery of safe water to Hopi people. The award will fund the Hopi Arsenic Mitigation Project, a regional pipeline that will deliver drinking water to four Hopi communities, serving close to 900 homes. The Navajo Nation will receive funding to conduct environmental job training for former sawmill employees near Red Lake Chapter House. And the White Mountain Apache Tribe will use its portion of grant money to oversee asbestos abatement on several abandoned cabins around Hawley Lake. They’ll be repurposed for recreational camping to generate additional revenue for the tribe. The awards were announced during this week’s EPA Southwest Tribal Conference.
