News Releases from Region 02

EPA Funding Will Help Camden Community Restore Local Waters

(New York, N.Y. – October 30, 2017) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a grant to help a Camden organization restore urban waterways. The grant was awarded under the EPA's Environmental Justice Small Grants Program, which supports and empowers communities working on solutions to local environmental and public health issues.  

The Coopers Ferry Partnership (CFP) from Camden, New Jersey was awarded the Environmental Justice Small Grant, totaling $30,000. Project partners include the New Jersey Tree Foundation, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, and UrbanPromise. The project will accelerate the restoration of local water systems by planting and expanding forests along urban waterways and connecting both adult and youth residents to water-related health activities in the local area. Trees help lessen the flow of stormwater and resulting overflows of combined sewage and stormwater, called combined sewer overflows. This will also reduce both pathogens and the broad suite of environmental contaminants that harm these waters. Proposed project activities include: planting of three tree groves of approximately 30 moderately-mature trees in riparian and floodplain open space, and two community tours of aquatic habitats benefitting from green infrastructure and riparian restoration efforts.    

EPA’s Environmental Justice Small Grants Program is designed to help communities understand and address exposure to multiple environmental harms and risks, and funds projects up to $30,000 a year. 

More information about EPA’s Environmental Justice Small Grants Program: 
https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/environmental-justice-small-grants-program. 

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