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EPA Grants to Help Prevent Pollution in New Jersey and New York

Release Date: 11/04/2008
Contact Information: John Senn (212) 637-3667, senn.john@epa.gov

(New York, N.Y.) From promoting the use of less toxic dry cleaning methods, to encouraging environmentally-protective practices at marinas, to education about the proper disposal of prescription drugs, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making its grant money count across New Jersey and New York. The Agency has awarded more than $400,000 in grants geared toward funding projects that help prevent pollution in those two states.

“Preventing pollution at its source is one of the best ways we can protect our air, water and land,” said EPA Regional Administrator Alan J. Steinberg. “These grants help give the experts who work on these issues every day the resources to make a real difference for our environment.”

EPA awarded the New Jersey Small Business Development Center at Rutgers University a grant for $181,240 to promote alternatives to traditional dry cleaning, which often uses toxic chemicals that threaten human health. The center will partner with New Jersey state officials and manufacturers to give technical support, fund demonstration projects and educate dry cleaners on viable non-toxic alternatives that they can use to replace commonly-used dry cleaning chemicals.

The New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation, a state government-funded organization based in Albany, N.Y., received a $174,500 grant to encourage better environmental practices at marinas throughout the state. The corporation will work with other state agencies and non-governmental organizations to develop simple best management practices for, and lend technical and compliance assistance to marinas across New York.

EPA gave the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) $50,000 to encourage the proper disposal of pharmaceutical drugs, which when simply flushed or washed down the sink, often find their way into our waterways and drinking water. DEC will use the money to reach out to pharmacies, hospitals and nursing homes to educate them and get them to educate their customers and patients.

The three grants are part of the more than $4 million in EPA national pollution prevention grants given each year. For more information on EPA Region 2’s pollution prevention program, visit https://www.epa.gov/region02/p2/.

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