April 15, 2009 – Today, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson announced that more than $25 million Omaha is receiving for lead site cleanup from the economic stimulus bill will provide jobs and dramatically accelerate work aimed at protecting Omaha residents from further lead-related health problems.
 
“This is tremendous news for the people of Omaha,” said Senator Nelson. “Not only will these funds hire hundreds of local workers and provide much-needed jobs in construction and related areas, they will speed up ongoing clean-up of lead-contaminated yards. That will advance efforts to protect Omaha’s citizens, particularly children who are the most vulnerable, from health problems linked to lead poisoning.
 
“I’ve been concerned and working on this serious health issue since I was governor, and this is an important step toward addressing the serious problem of lead contamination in Omaha,” Nelson said.
 
Nelson’s comments came after the Environmental Protection Agency announced today that Omaha will receive more than $25 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the economic stimulus bill. The more than $25 million will be in addition to funds already being spent in Omaha to clean up lead contamination linked to a former smelter and paint on thousands of older homes.
 
The money will further EPA's ability to clean up more than 10,000 residential properties which have been contaminated with lead in the urban core of Omaha, according to EPA. The blood-lead levels of children residing in Omaha have gone down over the past decade, and EPA has worked to clean lead contaminated soil in yards, but more work is needed to ensure the health and welfare of Omaha's children, according to the EPA. The affected area is 27 sq. miles, and EPA cannot clean it up as quickly as needed without the stimulus money.
 
The money for Omaha is part of $600 million in new funding EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced through the stimulus bill for cleanup of Superfund hazardous waste sites across the nation. The money will largely accelerate hazardous waste clean-up underway.
 
Senator Nelson played a key role in the passage of the $787 billion stimulus bill. He worked with a bipartisan group of nearly 20 Senators to better focus The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on tax cuts for the middle class and job creation for millions of Americans. Senator Nelson led the group through the initial bill line by line, dollar by dollar, to reduce spending and cut out $108 billion of inefficient or less-stimulative spending. The bipartisan group helped the improved bill win congressional approval. President Obama signed it into law February 17, 2009.
   
  Senator Nelson is posting information about the release of stimulus finds on his website as it becomes available.  Visit http://bennelson.senate.gov/issues/stimulus/index.cfm for more information.

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