Page 11 - AHATA

Aruba’s underwater wonderland

Tuesday
December 19, 2023
T: 582-7800
www.arubatoday.com
facebook.com/arubatoday
instagram.com/arubatoday
Page 11
Aruba’s ONLY English newspaper
A r u b a ’ s O N L Y E n g l i s h n e w s p a p e r
After years of decline, the Biden administration says environmental

enforcement is on the upswing

By MATTHEW DALY and
MICHAEL PHILLIS
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
Environmental Protection
Agency conducted more
on-site inspections of pol-
luting industrial sites this
year than any time since
the start of the COVID-19
pandemic, the agency
said Monday as it seeks
to reinvigorate its enforce-
ment program after more
than a decade of budget
cuts. EPA opened nearly
200 criminal investigations
this year, a 70% increase
over 2022, the agency said
in a report. It completed
nearly 1,800 civil settle-
ments, a 9% increase over
2022. More than half the in-
spections and settlements
involved poor and disad-
vantaged communities
long scarred by pollution,
the agency said, reflecting
the Biden administration’s
emphasis on environmen-
tal justice issues. But some
parts of EPA’s enforcement
efforts still lag. In 2023, for
example, it charged 102 The Fifth Ward Elementary School and residential neighborhoods sit near the Denka Performance Elastomer Plant, back, in Reserve,
defendants criminally. La., Sept. 23, 2022.
Associated Press
Continued on Page 2 Page 2