WASHINGTON – The Maine Department of Environmental Protection will receive a $382,940 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to support environmental cleanups under the Superfund program, U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins announced Monday.

“When hazardous materials are found in the environment, we need the knowledge and resources to take action,” Snowe and Collins said in a joint statement.

“Under the Superfund initiative, Maine’s DEP can continue its efforts to clear our state of dangerous contaminates, significantly reducing a public health risk and a threat to our environment as well.”

This funding – provided under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, commonly known as Superfund – authorizes and enables the DEP to take both short- and long-term actions that permanently and significantly reduce the dangers associated with releases of hazardous substances.