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Three Vermont Groups Receive Environmental Education Grants

Release Date: 11/08/2002
Contact Information: Andrew Spejewski, EPA Press Office, 617-918-1014

BOSTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced $175,000 in environmental education grants to New England, including $26,870 for three Vermont organizations and $20,000 to the New England Aquarium for a region-wide program. The University of Vermont, the Vermont Forum on Sprawl, and the Norwich school district are being funded in this round of grants.

"The critical first step to a clean and healthy world is learning about our environment," said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator for EPA's New England Office. "These organizations are doing a tremendous job at helping students and citizens learn, and EPA is proud to be able to help fund their work."

The University of Vermont in Burlington is receiving $5,000 to hold a statewide campus greening conference, bringing together state environmental agency staff and students, faculty and staff from 21 institutes of higher education in Vermont. The conference will help schools develop more efficient and less toxic campuses.

The Vermont Forum on Sprawl is receiving $10,000 for an on-line community planning workshop. Developed with Champlain College, the on-line program provides information communities can use to promote economic growth while reinforcing compact village and landscape patterns.

The SAU 70 School District, which includes schools in both Hanover, NH and Norwich, VT, is receiving $11,870 for a project to heighten student and family awareness about the environmental implications of their transportation choices. The project's goals are to create safe, walkable communities, clean air, and healthy children.

The Boston-based New England Aquarium is designing a traveling exhibit and training program on the sources of mercury in New England's environment, how it travels and reaches humans, and what people can do to minimize risks to them and the environment. Aquarium officials expect that 30,000 to 40,000 people will have the opportunity to interact with the exhibit and/or participate in mercury education.