International Cooperation
International Visitors
If you would like to visit Region 10, contact Cindy C. Schuster (schuster.cindy@epa.gov) at 206-553-1815.
Our proximity to Canada and other Pacific Rim countries provides a unique opportunity to help address global environmental problems through international cooperation. Below are examples of EPA and our partners working across international boundaries to protect human health and the environment.
Canada
Puget Sound Georgia Basin: Seven million people in the Puget Sound/Georgia Basin region in the U.S. and Canada share an airshed, a watershed, a flyway for migratory birds, habitat for fish, and urban growth pressures. EPA and Environment Canada have signed a statement of cooperation for addressing environmental issues in the Puget Sound/Georgia Basin, also called the Salish Sea. This agreement guides cooperative work to preserve and protect the area’s shared ecosystem, and has been a positive example of transboundary ecosystem management. For more information contact Lisa Chang (chang.lisa@epa.gov) at 206-553-0226.
Upper Columbia River: Upper Columbia River Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study - Contamination from Canada has crossed the border and impacted hundreds of miles of river in Washington. In 2006, the U.S. and a privately owned Canadian company signed a historic agreement to study the contamination in accordance with U.S. Superfund cleanup laws. For more information, contact Helen Bottcher (bottcher.helen@epa.gov) at 206-553-6069 or Monica Tonel (tonel.monica@epa.gov) at 206-553-0323.
A delegation from Indonesia's Ministry of Environment visited Region 10 in December 2011, learned about EPA approaches to management of hazardous waste and dredged materials, and toured Superfund and RCRA sites on the Duwamish River. Click photo to enlarge
Other Countries and Programs
A delegation from Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment learned about sediment contamination and made a presentation to the Duwamish Tribe at the Duwamish River Festival in Seattle. (Photo courtesy of Jim McGowan)
Region 10 also sends experts abroad, from Central America to Africa to Asia, to share their environmental knowledge on topics such as air pollution, safe drinking water, and protection from toxic pollution.
- EPA representative Theogene Mbabaliye spent six weeks working as a U.S. Embassy Science Fellow with the City of Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, on solid waste management planning and pollution prevention.
- At the invitation of the Asian Development Bank, EPA ecosystem scientist Michael Rylko traveled to Bangkok,Thailand, to lead technical seminars on cross-jurisdictional ecosystem indicators, in support of a six-country initiative to protect the Greater Mekong Basin ecosystem. Participating countries included Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and the Yunan Province of China.
International Visitors
International visitors, primarily from Canada and Asia, come to Region 10 to exchange environmental information.
For more information about arranging a visit to Region 10, contact Cindy C. Schuster (schuster.cindy@epa.gov) at 206-553-1815.