Two communities in New Mexico, Doña Ana County and Santo Domingo Pueblo, are participating in a federal pilot program to provide wastewater sanitation to underserved communities; a recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) news release said.
"The America that we all believe in is a land of opportunity,” Michael Regan, EPA administrator, said in the release. "But, for historically marginalized communities from Alabama to Alaska, that opportunity is stolen when basic sanitation doesn’t work—exposing adults and children to backyard sewage and disease.”
The Closing America's Wastewater Access Gap Community Initiative was launched by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the EPA. Santo Domingo Pueblo and Doña Ana County are two of 11 pilot towns around the U.S. whose locals lack the fundamental wastewater management required to safeguard their health and the environment.
“By partnering with USDA and leveraging funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA is working to restore dignity and opportunity to rural communities here in Lowndes County and across the country,” Regan said.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham stressed that the program is needed in her state.
“In many rural New Mexico communities, like Chapparal in Doña Ana County, residents live without access to basic sanitation services," the governor said in the release. "We have a responsibility to provide equitable access to infrastructure, and this pilot is going to help us get there with valuable input from community members and local leaders.”
