EPA Press Office:

North Dakota State University students awarded almost $25K to address landfill water pollution

FARGO, N.D. (Aug. 3, 2023) – This week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted $24,982 to a team of students at North Dakota State University’s Main Campus in Fargo, N.D., for their proposed landfill pollution removal project.

As part of EPA’s People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) Program, the award will provide funding for the project through July 31, 2024. The students will develop a process to help remove per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, from landfill leachate. Leachate is the water that drains from a landfill, and it’s often contaminated with harmful PFAS. The proposed project aims to improve water quality in North Dakota and includes a plan to educate young people about water pollution.

“PFAS are known as forever chemicals because they’re nearly indestructible, and they have dangerous effects on human health and the environment,” said KC Becker, EPA Regional Administrator. “Congratulations to these University of Wyoming students, whose proposal uses imagination and science to develop an innovative solution to this water-quality challenge.”

This award is part of $523,796 in funding that EPA granted to 21 student teams across the country. The EPA announced the winners as Phase I of the 19^th Annual P3 awards. All Phase I recipients will be eligible to compete for a Phase II grant of up to $100,000 to further implement their designs.

More information about all 2023 P3 Phase I winners is available on the EPA website.

Contact: Marisa Lubeck, lubeck.marisa@epa.gov