Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) awarded over $3.8 million in grants to 15 projects across Pennsylvania that will help communities restore impaired watersheds.
“Clean water is a key part of a community’s health,” said DEP Secretary Rich Negrin. “That’s why cleaning up Pennsylvania waters is vital in ensuring our communities live happier and healthier lives. The Section 319 grant provides resources for watershed-based plans and saturating watersheds with practices that will ultimately help our communities thrive. This helps further our mission of upholding every Pennsylvanian’s right to clean air, pure water, and preservation of natural resources.”
Nonpoint source pollution is water pollution that doesn’t come from a single specific discharge point, such as a pipe, but rather from diffuse sources, which are many smaller or scattered sources from which pollutants may be released. About 95 percent of water-quality-impaired watersheds in Pennsylvania are affected by nonpoint source pollution. Section 319 Nonpoint Source Management Grants focus on reducing:
- Nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution from agricultural activities, urban stormwater runoff, and streambank and shoreline erosion; and
- Iron, aluminum, and acidity pollution associated with energy resource extraction and acid mine drainage (AMD).
The Section 319 Nonpoint Source Management Grants program supports projects that carry out best management practices (BMPs) specified in Watershed Implementation Plans for 43 watersheds around the state, with special consideration for projects in Pennsylvania’s share of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The program also supports development of new Watershed Implementation Plans for additional impaired watersheds.
The following projects received Section 319 Grants:
Allegheny County:
- Etna Borough Green Streets Phase 5.1 Construction for Phase 5.1 of Etna Borough’s Green Streetscape project
Bedford County:
- AMD Remediation Construction Completion of the Sandy Run SA0-D17 AMD remediation project
Bucks County:
- Dairy Waste Storage BMP Implementation
Centre County:
- Implementing the Halfmoon 319 WIP on Priority Parcels
Chester County:
- Clean Water for Octoraro Communities and Ecosystems: Increasing Capacity for the Octoraro Source Water Collaborative
Lancaster County:
- Pequea Creek Watershed Implementation Plan: Water Monitoring Program & Expedited Project Design Program
- Conewago and Conowingo Tributary Focus Project
- Conowingo WIP Update
- Conowingo Creek 10,000 feet of Stream Restoration
Luzerne County:
- Conservation District Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program - East
Mifflin County:
- Upper Kishacoquillas Creek Watershed: Agricultural Best Management Practices Implementation VII
Schuylkill County:
- Clinton #2 and Tracy Overflow AMD Discharges Treatment System Design
- Kaska Mine Discharge Treatment System Design
Statewide Project:
- Conservation District Demonstration Project: Remediation of AMD, Western PA
York County:
- UNT to Codorus Creek Stream Restoration Design and Permitting
- Codorus Creek WIP Update
The projects in Pennsylvania’s share of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed also advance Countywide Action Plan priority initiatives and the state Phase 3 Watershed Implementation Plan to improve the health of the watershed.
Grant funding is provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and authorized through Section 319(h) of the federal Water Pollution Control Act.
For more information, visit the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s website, or follow DEP on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
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