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$250,000 of Additional Funding Announced for Green Solutions in Kansas City’s Marlborough Neighborhood

Release Date: 07/18/2011
Contact Information: Kris Lancaster, (913) 551-7557, lancaster.kris@epa.gov

Environmental News

NEWS MEDIA ADVISORY

(Kansas City, Kan., July 18, 2011) - EPA Region 7 will recognize homeowners in the Marlborough area of Kansas City, Mo., this week for installing rain gardens, rain barrels and other green solutions to reduce stormwater runoff.

A tour of rain gardens and other green solutions will be held for news media and city officials from 11:15 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Friday, July 22. A formal news conference will follow at 12:00 p.m. at 1312 East 79^th Street, Kansas City, Mo. Officials will be on-site to provide residents information about the use of rain gardens as effective tools for managing stormwater.

EPA has completed the installation of eight demonstration rain gardens at private residences in the Marlborough area of Kansas City. The Agency is also installing 20 rain barrels and disconnecting an equal number of roof drains that are connected to the sewer system in the same area. These demonstration projects on private property complement the work the city is doing to install rain gardens, permeable pavement and other green solutions in the public right-of-way of a 100-acre area that extends from 73rd Street to 77th Terrace and Holmes Road to Paseo Boulevard.

EPA has provided more than $1 million dollars to assist in Kansas City’s green solutions effort through its National Risk Management Research Laboratories in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Edison, N.J., and its Region 7 office. Partners on this project include Mid-America Regional Council, City of Kansas City, Mo., University of Missouri-Kansas City, University of Alabama, Tetra Tech EMI, Shockey Consultants, Marlborough Coalition and student volunteers.

WHAT: Commitment of additional $250,000 for the collection of scientific data after green solutions are installed.

WHEN: 12:00 p.m., Friday, July 22, 2011. (Tour of new stormwater management solutions for news media will begin at 11:15 a.m.) Parking is available in the lot across the street from the Holy Martyrs Church at 7801 Paseo Boulevard, two blocks east of the site of the news conference. The tour bus departs from and returns to this parking lot.

WHERE: 1312 East 79^th Street, Kansas City, Mo.

WHO: EPA Region 7 Acting Deputy Regional Administrator Mark Hague; Kansas City, Mo., Mayor Pro-Tem Cindy Circo; Councilman Michael Brooks; and Marlborough Coalition member Brenda Thomas.

There are a number of technologies available to reduce the impact of stormwater runoff while reducing pollutants. These include permeable pavement which allows precipitation to soak through the surface into the ground, rain gardens, rain barrels, green roofs and other green landscape features. A rain garden is a shallow depression planted with flowering plants and grasses which holds rainwater for a short time until it soaks into the ground.