EPA has created a new Office of Mountains, Deserts and Plains (OMDP) aimed at speeding the cleanup of former hardrock mining sites through closer oversight, promoting "Good Samaritan" remediation, serving as a technology transfer hub, and overseeing the cleanup of abandoned uranium mines in the Navajo Nation. Acting EPA Deputy Administrator Doug Benevento announced the new office Sept. 2 at an event in Colorado Springs, CO. The new office will be housed in the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood, CO. "This uniquely western work needs an integrated western presence, and Administrator [Andrew] Wheeler should be commended for recognizing this and creating this new geographic program in Colorado," Benevento said. "Addressing these issues requires an office with a singular focus and senior leadership who don't see these issues in the abstract, but are actually located in the West and accessible to the communities impacted by them."
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