Five grants from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) have been given to the Ohio EPA, the Ohio Lake Erie Commission, the Ohio DNR and the Northeast Ohio Four County Regional Planning and Development Organization for Areas of Concern along Lake Erie. The grants total nearly $3.6 million and will be used to help restoration efforts, invasive species prevention and cleanups.
“Through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and our partners in the state of Ohio are working collaboratively to solve the complex environmental challenges facing the Great Lakes,” says EPA Great Lakes National Program Manager and Regional Administrator Cathy Stepp. “With these grants, EPA is reaffirming its commitment to the Great Lakes and to all those whose health and well-being rely on them.”
The grants follow the announcement of a five-year Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan III.
The Ohio GLRI grants include:
• $285,000 to Ohio DNR to improve wetland function in a coastal marsh and the Moxley Wetland Area on Lake Erie’s Sandusky Bay.
• $374,865 to Ohio EPA and OLEC to stabilize 1,950 feet of streambank on the West Branch of Euclid Creek.
• $1,000,000 in incremental funding toward Ohio EPA and OLEC’s $2,497,258 grant to reduce approximately 515 to 715 pounds of phosphorus runoff per year and to protect and restore streams and wetlands by working with farmers.
• $1,125,000 in incremental funding toward Ohio EPA’s $3,675,000 grant to develop and implement Lakewide Action Management Plans for Lake Erie and Remedial Action Plans for Lake Erie AOCs.
• $800,000 to NEFCO to remove the Canal Diversion Dam and the resulting impoundment from the Cuyahoga River.
To learn more, visit epa.gov.
For more on the GLRI, visit epa.gov/great-lakes-funding.
