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EPA Awards Environmental Education Grants of More Than $180,000

Release Date: 07/27/2006
Contact Information: Denise Morrison, (913) 551-7402, morrison.denise@epa.gov

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Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., July 27, 2006) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Region 7 office has awarded 11 grants totaling more than $180,000 to develop new environmental education projects. EPA reviewed 65 proposals from the four Region 7 states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.

Region 7 Acting Administrator Bill Rice said, “I am very pleased that we are able to provide financial support to these organizations. These projects provide an opportunity for citizens to improve their quality of life and to help EPA protect human health and the environment.”

The grant program provides seed money for new projects and to advance existing projects. The projects increase the public’s awareness of environmental issues and provide the skills to take responsible actions to protect the environment. More information is available on the Environmental Education Grant Program Web page: epa.gov/enviroed/grants.html.

Projects chosen were:
Eastern Iowa Community College, Davenport - $12,782: This project will involve training educators in how to use interactive environmental software to teach students about the environment. The goal of this project is to develop a one-year program to educate 25 students, ages 8 to 10, about the role of wetlands, pollution sources and the impact of structures people have built on a river.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Des Moines - $13,199: This project will engage citizens in a service/learning project. Citizens will become aware and involved in water quality issues that threaten the health of Iowa's water resources and promote actions to improve and protect Iowa's waters. The focus of this on-site river program will include water quality monitoring, wildlife monitoring, watershed education and environmental stewardship. Participants will study habitat change, stream flow and land use. The goal of this project is to involve students and adults in collecting water quality data to see how water quality changes throughout a watershed.

Iowa Department of Public Health, Des Moines - $30,376: This project will educate teachers, students, parents and community leaders about human health threats from environmental pollution and how to minimize human exposure to preserve good health. Iowa Department of Public Health will conduct educational seminars and distribute materials explaining the EPA pesticide labeling system. Participants will learn the importance of reading product labels and the proper use of chemicals. The goal of this project is to protect children enrolled in child-care centers throughout Iowa from injury and illness caused by exposures from the misuse of hazardous chemicals used in child-care centers.


American Lung Association, Topeka - $44,740: This project will involve four workshops to help some 160 high school and college science teachers learn about the potential respiratory and other health risks to students when they are exposed to hazardous chemicals. The project will help high school chemistry teachers across Kansas acquire the skills and supplies to return to their classrooms and begin using green science and microscale chemistry experiments. The goals of this project are to help teachers learn how to identify hazardous chemicals in science classrooms, how to inventory dangerous chemicals and develop a plan for removal and the value of using green science and microscale kits to reduce hazardous wastes.

K-State Research & Extension, Kansas City - $2,948: This project will involve creating four composting sites that will demonstrate a variety of different composting methods. Master Gardeners will provide and maintain the demonstration sites and will teach composting workshops throughout the year. The goals of this project are improving solid waste management in Wyandotte County, establishing a recycling garden, turning yard waste into a valuable resource and reducing the amount of solid waste going into landfills.


Blue River Watershed, Kansas City - $13,937: This project will involve some 3,500 students from fourth grade through high school and 70 teachers, parents and community members in the Kansas City area in a watershed cleanup. This clean stream water quality project will help students, teachers and adult volunteers in the Kansas City metropolitan community learn about water quality, pollution, waste disposal and the adverse effect of trash on water quality in the community.

Migrant Farm Workers Project, Kansas City - $18,599: This project will help migrant and seasonal farm workers learn about environmental issues such as lead poisoning, recycling and agricultural and household pesticide safety. The goals of this project are
to conduct educational workshops and field trips and encourage land stewardship through the collection and/or reuse of recyclable materials.

Ozarks Resource Conservation, Houston - $11,217: This project will involve some 560 fourth- and fifth-grade students in interactive displays on runoff and subsurface drainage. Area residents will participate in workshops to learn about clean water and watersheds. A watershed Web site will be developed to update the community about educational activities within the watershed and about the Jacks Fork River. The goal of this project is to help local residents and students learn about environmental issues affecting the Jacks Fork River.


Chadron State College, Chadron - $9,067: This project will teach high school students and teachers how to conduct stream monitoring. Teachers and students will participate in field trips to study sites and take part in Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) workshops. The goals of this project are to conduct stream assessments, to create digital maps of study sites, and to create a database and a Web page to share the results of the workshops and field trips.

The Groundwater Foundation, Lincoln - $14,439: This project will provide on-the-go ground-water education to elementary and middle school students where they are instead of bringing them to ground-water education events. It will offer one training event in each of the four EPA Region 7 states. The goal of this project is to train nonformal educators throughout Region 7 to use the "H20 on the Go Train-the-Trainer" model in their nonformal programs for students, such as Boy and Girl Scout camps, summer day programs and Boys & Girls Clubs.

Keep North Platte & Lincoln County Beautiful, Lincoln - $13,577: This project will help citizens of North Platte learn about the causes and effects of storm water pollution. The goals are to conduct presentations to service organizations and at business association meetings. Distribution of educational materials on preventing storm water pollution will be provided to participants. Community members will participate in local events; such as home shows, to give presentations on storm water pollution.