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EPA Region 7 Tribal Program Awards Grants to Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation for Water Pollution Control, General Assistance

Release Date: 07/09/2012
Contact Information: Chris Whitley, 913-551-7394, whitley.christopher@epa.gov

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., July 9, 2012) - EPA Region 7’s Office of Tribal Affairs has awarded two grants to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation to support water pollution control efforts and provide general assistance to the tribe’s environmental protection programs.

The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, headquartered near Mayetta, Kan., occupies approximately 77,400 acres of reservation land in Jackson County in north central Kansas. The tribe has more than 4,700 members, more than 700 of whom reside on the reservation.

A $12,173 grant will allow the tribe to continue to build capacity for comprehensive planning and environmental protection programs to protect the quality of the environment within the reservation. Funding will administer an environmental office, develop water programs to reduce pollution sources, build capacity for solid waste management, and assist with community outreach and environmental education.

A $3,500 grant will allow the tribe to continue to conduct surface and groundwater monitoring on the reservation to determine whether the water is impaired or unsafe for human contact. The grant will also fund a quality assurance project plan and assessment report; revisions to the monitoring strategy as needed; water quality training; and outreach activities to provide tribal members with information about water quality.

EPA provides financial assistance to states and tribes to help them implement environmental programs. States and tribes may receive these funds in individual environmental program categorical grants, or choose to combine grants in a performance partnership grant.

The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation is one of nine federally recognized tribes within EPA Region 7.

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