NEW ORLEANS, April 22, 2002 -- In keeping with the goal of environmental responsibility on Earth Day, Entergy has announced the recipients of its 2002 Environmental Stewardship grants.
This year marks the third year the company has sponsored the Environmental Stewardship Awards Program. The program supports community-based projects designed to enhance or preserve the environment. What's special about this program is that it supports environmental projects in which Entergy employees are actively involved.
"With these grants, we not only support innovative environmental projects, but we also support projects in which our employees are actively involved and that benefit the communities in which we serve," said Linda Bayhnam, chairperson of the 2002 Entergy Environmental Stewardship Committee.
Nearly $150,000 was awarded to environmental projects throughout Entergy's regulated and unregulated service territory, which includes Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas and New York. These projects demonstrated a benefit to the environment, had a significant community impact and provided for sustainable or continued environmental benefits.
Some of the projects receiving grants include:
The City of Russellville, Ark. -- Pleasant View Bank Stabilization Program -- To halt shoreline erosion along a 1,000 foot section of Lake Dardanell currently being degraded by high boat traffic.
DeSoto Central High School, Miss. -- Putting Life Back into the Wild -- Project to assist students in the development of a wildlife refuge on school campus. The refuge will include indigenous plants, some of which are at-risk or endangered in Mississippi.
George Washington Carver Senior High School -- Urban Forestry Education Program, New Orleans, La. -- This project will teach students to become environmental stewards through a local New Orleans tree-planting initiative.
Jefferson Parish Department of Environmental Affairs -- Jefferson Parish Storm Drain Marking Project, La. -- This project will place storm drain markers and door hangers in the community to educate the public on the damage caused by dumping pollutants into the storm drainage system. This project will improve water quality and reduce pollutants in urban runoff and ultimately benefit the Pontchartrain and Barataria Basins.
Hamshire-Fannett Elementary PTA -- Hamshire-Fannett Outdoor Research and Nature Site (H.O.R.N.S.), Texas -- Project will convert an underused school area to improve the quality of life for children and community members in the local neighborhood. It will function as a living laboratory and a model of an ecological schoolyard. This project will be a multi-generational place for children and people of all ages in the community to work together.
Town of Warwick, NY -- Weed Harvesting Program -- Project will assist with operating expenses of the community's mechanical weed harvester, which regularly cuts and removes weeds under the surface of the water for control of future weed growth and lake accessibility.
In 2001, Entergy announced its own voluntary greenhouse gas emissions reduction program in coordination with Environmental Defense, a national advocacy group, to develop a program to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and stabilize greenhouse gas emissions at 2000 levels through 2005. The company has implemented a combination of internal actions and investments in emissions reduction projects, and it has established a $25 million Environmental Initiatives Fund to help accomplish the goal of GHG reduction through 2005.
Entergy, headquartered in New Orleans, is a major global energy company with power production, distribution operations and related diversified services. Entergy owns, manages or invests in power plants generating more than 30,000 megawatts of electricity domestically and internationally, and delivers electricity to about 2.6 million customers in portions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Through Entergy-Koch, L.P., it is also a provider of wholesale energy marketing and trading services.
