We've made some changes to EPA.gov. If the information you are looking for is not here, you may be able to find it on the EPA Web Archive or the January 19, 2017 Web Snapshot.

News Releases from Region 05

EPA Awards 13 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Shoreline Cities Grants Totaling Over $2 Million

08/10/2016
Contact Information: 
Peter Cassell (cassell.peter@epa.gov)
312-886-6234, 312-859-9614 (cell)

For Immediate Release: No. 16-OPA031

CHICAGO (August 10, 2016) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced the award of Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grants totaling more than $2 million to 13 cities in Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota, New York and Wisconsin. The grants will fund green infrastructure projects that will improve public health and water quality at municipal swimming beaches.

EPA Senior Advisor Cameron Davis made the announcement from an event at Lions Park in Sandusky, Ohio, with U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur and representatives of the cities.

"Our beaches are the window to the Great Lakes for millions of residents and visitors from around the world,” Davis said. “The purpose of the GLRI grants announced today is to protect public health and give more people the chance to swim, recreate and connect with the Great Lakes.”

The grantees anticipate their projects will capture or prevent over 13 million gallons of untreated stormwater from contaminating swimming beaches and getting into the Great Lakes.

“The investments announced today by the EPA will prevent nearly 2 million gallons of dirty untreated stormwater runoff from reaching our sacred Lake Erie,” Rep. Kaptur said. “I cannot think of a better public investment, with the dividend being a cleaner natural asset for years and years to come.”

“Northern Ohio’s shoreline cities are committed to doing their part to preserve Lake Erie,” U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said. “This investment will help Ohio cities build infrastructure that will protect local water supplies. By keeping small water sources clean, we can help clean up the Lake and keep it healthy.”

“Lake Erie is a part of who we are as Ohioans,” U.S. Sen. Robert Portman said. “It supports a multi-billion dollar fishing industry and it’s our top tourist destination. It also provides drinking water to 3 million Ohioans. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative helps protect the Lake by bringing federal agencies together with the state of Ohio to address the greatest threats to the Lake--threats like harmful algal blooms, invasive species, and contamination. Today’s grants to five Ohio cities will make a difference in these communities, and help ensure that we preserve the Lake for future generations.”

“Cities all along the Great Lakes are working hard to connect with the water in ways that are good for the Lakes and good for the quality of life and economic well-being of the people who live there. The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative deeply appreciates this recognition of the important role cities can play in the protection and restoration challenge, and notes that these investments are yet another example of how the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is making a huge difference on the shores and in the Lakes,” said David Ullrich, Executive Director of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative.

The following projects will be funded by the grants announced today:

  • East Chicago, Indiana ($175,000) will install green infrastructure at Jeorse Park to reduce stormwater runoff and filter sediment, nutrients, chemicals, bacteria and other contaminants before they reach the beach and Lake Michigan. These new instillations will prevent over 290,000 gallons of unfiltered runoff from reaching Lake Michigan.
  • Ashtabula, Ohio ($175,000) will install green infrastructure at Walnut Beach to re-establish a functional, connected dune system to prevent untreated stormwater from flowing across the beach and directly into Lake Erie.
  • Cleveland, Ohio ($175,000) will install bioretention cells at Wildwood Park to capture and treat stormwater runoff and will prevent some 660,000 gallons of untreated stormwater runoff from reaching Lake Erie.
  • Huron, Ohio ($125,439) will install green infrastructure at Lake Front Park that will filter sediment, nutrients, chemicals, bacteria and other contaminants, and prevent nearly 600,000 gallons of untreated stormwater runoff from reaching Lake Erie.
  • Sandusky, Ohio ($175,000) will design and construct rain gardens and install a meadow at Lions Park to convey, capture and treat stormwater. The project will reduce over 280,000 gallons of untreated runoff from reaching Lake Erie.
  • Vermillion, Ohio ($175,000) will install green infrastructure at Main Street Beach to reduce stormwater runoff and pollutant discharges to Lake Erie. Proposed projects include the installation of permeable pavement, bioretention areas and a tree pit that will prevent over 450,000 gallons of untreated stormwater from discharging into the lake.
  • Duluth, Minnesota ($58,000) will construct rain gardens, plant trees and restore shoreline buffer at Park Point to prevent approximately 89,000 gallons of untreated stormwater runoff from reaching Lake Superior.
  • Evans, New York ($172,125) will install rain gardens and open swales in Evans Town Park to reduce bacteria at the beach and prevent approximately 221,000 gallons of untreated stormwater from reaching Lake Erie.
  • Algoma, Wisconsin ($175,000) will install infiltration basins, rain gardens and permeable pavement at Crescent Beach that will prevent more than 110,000 gallons of untreated runoff from reaching Lake Michigan.
  • Ashland, Wisconsin ($175,000) will construct infiltration swales, plant native vegetation and replenish beaches over 2.9 acres of land at Maslowski Beach to prevent some 219,000 gallons of untreated runoff from reaching Lake Superior.
  • Manitowoc, Wisconsin ($167,603) will install green infrastructure at Blue Rail Marina Beach to replenish the beach and improve nearshore water quality, preventing over 8,000 gallons of untreated runoff from reaching Lake Michigan.
  • Two Rivers, Wisconsin ($175,000) will construct wetlands at Neshotah Beach North that will improve water quality through natural filtering and reduce nutrient discharges, preventing over 10 million gallons of stormwater from reaching Lake Michigan.
  • Wind Point, Wisconsin ($122,691) will install bio-infiltration, plant native vegetation and replenish beaches at Wind Point Lighthouse Beach to reduce fecal pollution and prevent some 195,000 gallons of untreated stormwater from reaching Lake Michigan.

The GLRI grants announced today, part of the GLRI’s Shoreline Cities program, will fund green infrastructure projects on public property. The projects include rain gardens, bioswales, green roofs, porous pavement, greenways, constructed wetlands, stormwater tree trenches and other green infrastructure measures designed to improve water quality at locations throughout the Great Lakes basin.

The GLRI was launched in 2010 to accelerate efforts to protect and restore the largest system of fresh surface water in the world. It is the largest investment in the Great Lakes in more than two decades. GLRI resources are used by EPA and ten other federal agencies to strategically target the biggest threats to the Great Lakes ecosystem.

For more information about the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, visit www.glri.us.

For more information about the Great Lakes Shoreline Cities grants, visit https://www.epa.gov/great-lakes-funding/great-lakes-shoreline-cities-grants.

###