Superfund Research Program
Administrative Core
Project Leader: Raina M. Maier
Co-Investigators: Katherine Isaacs, Monica Ramirez-Andreotta, Donna D. Zhang
Grant Number: P42ES004940
Funding Period: 2000-2025
Project-Specific Links
Final Progress Reports
Year: 2019 2016 2014 2009 2004
Two major goals were achieved this past year. The first was submission of the Administrative Core's competitive renewal application. The second was to increase the visibility and impact of the UA SRP mining expertise in Arizona, EPA Region 9, and internationally into Mexico and the rest of Latin America to ensure that the research they generate is used in industry management and regulatory policy decision-making. They have created the Center for Environmentally Sustainable Mining (CESM) to centralize this effort and expand it beyond the UA SRP. Arizona events to increase visibility included a comprehensive briefing for state and federal Legislators in March 2014 at the UA San Xavier Mine facility on Arizona's mineral resources. This was followed by a meet and greet profile event for CESM in Phoenix in April 2014 sponsored by the Arizona Mining Association and the Arizona Rock Products Association. This event was attended by mining industry representatives, consultants, and both state and federal legislators. The core has also been invited as regular attendees at the monthly Southern Arizona Business Coalition meetings where they are given time to talk about their various research efforts and how they relate to making mining more sustainable in Arizona. A NIEHS R13 award allowed the core to partner with Mexico to hold the Latin American Conference on Compatible Mining: Protecting Vulnerable Populations and the Surrounding Environment in San Luis Potosi, Mexico in September 2014. Finally, we are working with the University of Arizona Institute for Mineral Resources to create a new school, the "International School of Mineral and Energy Resources" (ISoMER) which will be one of the top three most comprehensive resource and training entities on mining in the world. The UA SRP is the foundation from which CESM has developed as the environmental health and stewardship arm of ISoMER.