CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality has received a $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help clean up contamination from leaking underground petroleum storage tanks.
KTWO reports (https://bit.ly/2g4QFIM ) the funding will support staff that oversees cleanup projects around Wyoming.
The money comes from a Trust Fund created by Congress in 1986 to address petroleum leaks from federally-regulated underground storage tanks. In 2005, the Energy Policy Act expanded eligible uses of the Trust Fund to include certain leak-prevention activities.
Financing for the fund comes from a .1-cent tax on gasoline sold nationwide.
The EPA says Wyoming reported last year six new confirmed discharges, 96 completed cleanups and 707 that are under investigation or active remediation.
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