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Springfield—Illinois EPA Interim Director Lisa Bonnett today announced the award of nearly $5 million in Green Infrastructure Grants designed to reduce the amount of pollution running into Illinois waterways from stormwater sources.
Applicants applied for grant awards in three categories: Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Rehabilitation; Stormwater Retention and Infiltration; and Green Infrastructure Small Projects. The list is attached.
“Our waterways are some of our most valuable natural resources, and we must protect them,” said Governor Pat Quinn. “This funding will help us keep Illinois’ waterways safe and free from contamination.”
Green Infrastructure Grants are another one of the Agency’s tools to control stormwater pollution in Illinois,” said Illinois EPA Interim Director Lisa Bonnett. “Well over half of the impairments to Illinois waterways are due to nonpoint source and stormwater pollution and it comes from many different sources.”
Nonpoint source pollution occurs when runoff from rain and snowmelt carries pollutants into waterways such as rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands, and even groundwater. When rain hits the ground and flows across streets, parking lots, yards, construction sites, farm fields and golf courses, it picks up litter, oil, grease, metals, rubber, dirt, fertilizers, pesticides, animal waste, and other things left behind by people, automobiles and animals depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters and even underground sources of drinking water.
The Illinois EPA should be commended for encouraging the use of Green Infrastructure through its grant program,” said Martin Jaffe, Associate Professor Dept. of Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The large number of applications the agency received attests to the high interest shown by local officials in putting these cost-effective and innovative urban stormwater management strategies in place.
“This grant program is a terrific way to encourage local government, non-profit organizations and businesses to use Green Infrastructure in projects where the cost is the only thing holding them back,” noted Hal Sprague, Manager of Water Policy at the Center for Neighborhood Technology. “This is a win, win, win situation, since these measures are cheaper to install than traditional approaches and can be installed more quickly. And our research shows that they are very effective at reducing flooding and pollution.”
Green infrastructure” means any storm water management practice with the goal of preserving or restoring natural hydrology. Green infrastructure includes methods of using soil and vegetation to promote soil percolation, evapotranspiration and filtration, and involves the preservation and restoration of natural landscape features, such as forests, floodplains, headwaters, and wetlands.
The $5 million in grants is estimated to result in 250 weeks of work for installation of green structures by construction workers and the trades, as well as to create 130 weeks of work for professional engineers and public works staff designing Best Management Practices and developing and submitting permits, and construction oversight.
Applicants that did not receive awards this year are encouraged to apply for the 2012 Green Infrastructure award. The deadline for submission is December 15, 2011. The Agency will award another $5 million in 2012.
The successful applicants, the projects and the amounts of the awards are:
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APPLICANT
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PROGRAM
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AWARD
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COMBINED SEWER OVERFLOW REHABILITATION CATEGORY
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City of Joliet
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Footing Tile Separation Program
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$820,000
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City of Elgin
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Lord Street Basin CSO Green Infrastructure Retrofit
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$634,000
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Village of Riverside
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Riverside Green Pavement Projects
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$502,663
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Village of Elmwood Park
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Elmwood Park Green Alleys Project
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$398,671
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Galesburg Sanitary District
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Footing Drain Disconnection Program
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$255,000
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Village of Niles
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Niles Bio-infiltration Facility
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$202,224
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STORMWATER RETENTION & INFILTRATION CATEGORY
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City of Danville
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Danville High School Campus Improvement
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$750,000
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Southwestern Ill. Resource Conservation & Development
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Alton Riparian Zone Restoration
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$510,165
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Northbrook School District 28
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Greenbriar School
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$326,910
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City of Chicago, 35th ward
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Milwaukee Ave. Green Development Corridor Program
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$200,000
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GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE SMALL PROJECTS CATEGORY
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Safer Pest Control Project
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Sustainable Sites Initiative at Commonwealth in the Village
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$73,280
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Beverly Area Planning Assn.
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Green Parking Lot and Rain Garden
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$72,273
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City of Aurora
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Downer Place Bio-infiltration Project
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$69,486
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Association of Illinois Soil & Water Conservation Districts
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Green Infrastructure BMPs at Illinois State Fairgrounds
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$56,218
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