EPA announces over $1.8M in Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grants

June 5, 2015 -- In an effort to fund green infrastructure projects that will improve water quality in Lake Erie, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Shoreline Cities grants totaling more than $1.8 million for 11 cities throughout the states of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Northern Ohio ($500,000)

• Euclid, Ohio ($174,206) will construct rain gardens and bioswales at Sims Park to prevent the discharge of over 500,000 gallons of untreated stormwater into Lake Erie each year. Bioretention ponds and porous concrete will also be installed at a downtown parking lot to prevent the discharge of an additional 88,000 gallons of untreated stormwater into Lake Erie each year.

• Mentor, Ohio($250,000) will install porous pavement and construct bioswales at the Mentor Lagoons Marina and Nature Preserve to prevent the discharge of about 860,000 gallons of untreated stormwater into Mentor Marsh and Lake Erie each year.

• Sandusky, Ohio ($125,958) will construct bioswales, plant trees and install porous pavement at the downtown Jackson Street parking lot to prevent the discharge of 1.5 million gallons of untreated stormwater into Sandusky Bay each year.

Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan ($430,000)

• Highland Park, Ill. ($88,775) will install porous pavement at Rosewood Park Beach to prevent the discharge of 18,000 gallons of untreated stormwater into Lake Michigan each year.

• Wilmette, Ill. ($8,000) will plant trees to intercept rainwater and facilitate filtration, which will prevent the discharge of about 40,000 gallons of untreated stormwater into Lake Michigan each year when the trees mature.

• Michigan City, Ind. ($224,823) will construct rain gardens, bioswales, plant native trees, and install porous pavement along six blocks of Wabash Street to prevent the discharge of 30,000 gallons of untreated stormwater into Trail Creek and Lake Michigan each year.

• Muskegon, Mich. ($110,448) will construct a wetland, a bioswale and rain gardens to prevent the discharge of over 5 million gallons of untreated stormwater into Muskegon Lake and Lake Michigan each year.

Wisconsin ($800,000)

• Manitowoc, Wis. ($89,699) will construct a rain garden along the Blue Rail Marina Beach to prevent the discharge of 115,000 gallons of untreated stormwater into Lake Michigan each year.

• Oak Creek, Wis. ($250,000) will install porous pavement in a parking area and construct a bioretention pond on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan to prevent the discharge of over 1 million gallons of untreated stormwater into the lake each year. The conversion of this former industrial brownfield into a city park will provide public access to the shoreline for the first time in 80 years.

• Sheboygan, Wis. ($239,459) will construct bioswales near storm sewer outfalls at King Beach and Deland Park Beach to prevent the direct discharge of untreated stormwater into Lake Michigan and to improve water quality for beachgoers.

• Superior, Wis. ($250,000) will construct a wetland near Superior Bay to reduce the amount of stormwater that reaches the combined sewer system and would otherwise overflow into Lake Superior.

See also:

"Great Lakes shoreline cities offered $8.5M in EPA green infrastructure projects"

"EPA green infrastructure grant to help improve Lake Michigan water quality"

###