EPA names 28 Ohio finalists for Great Lakes restoration funding

by Dave Hochanadel
— June 10, 2010

The Environmental Protection Agency has chosen 28 Ohio projects as finalists to receive Great Lakes restoration funding, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland announced Monday.

The Ohio projects were among 270 finalists nationwide out of an original 1,000 proposals.

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative will provide up to $161.4 million nationwide for this competitive grant, of which the Ohio projects would require $17 million. Before receiving this funding, finalists must still submit formal applications. The awards are then dispensed at the time a project begins.

According to the governor’s office, the finalists include the following projects:

Ohio Department of Health, sanitary surveys to reduce pollution at Lake Erie beaches, $249,511;
Ohio Department of Health, improving communication about beach water quality, $100,000;
ODNR, Division of Wildlife, Cuyahoga area of concern habitat and fish restoration opportunities, $500,000;
ODNR, Division of Parks and Recreation, North Bass Island habitat restoration, $125,000;
ODNR, Division of Parks and Recreation, reforestation of Maumee Bay and Mary Jane Thurston state parks, $168,000;
Ohio EPA, Ottawa River watershed (Lima) total maximum daily load plan $250,000;
Ohio EPA, Cuyahoga County surface water improvement grant program, $1,000,000;
Ohio EPA, Ohio Lake Erie comprehensive near shore monitoring program, $1,195,000;
Ohio EPA, Ashtabula River area of concern habitat restoration, $1,500,000;
Ohio EPA, phosphorous reduction: variable rate technology program, $202,000;
Ohio Lake Erie Commission, Toledo Harbor sediment management and reuse, $250,000;
Ohio Lake Erie Commission, Lake Erie synthesis and coordination team, $200,000;
City of Toledo, Division of Environmental Services, Ottawa River watershed scrap yard pollution prevention program, $270,600;
Cuyahoga County Board of Health, holistic watershed approach to health at Huntington Beach, $248,060;
Cuyahoga County Engineer’s Office, Cuyahoga area of concern urban riparian habitat restoration phase one,$1,396,050;
Cuyahoga County Engineer’s Office, Cuyahoga area of concern urban riparian habitat restoration phase two, $1,500,000;
Cuyahoga County Soil and Water Conservation District, lacustrine refuge in Cuyahoga County, $1,396,050;
Huron County Soil and Water Conservation District, north central Ohio sediment reduction project, $812,000;
Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, installation incentives for dental amalgam separators, $250,000;
Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, process based predictive models for complex urban beaches, $248,060;
Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, rapid method data comparison at bathing beaches in Ohio, $87,988;
Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, selective, multiplexed, real-time detection of bacteria, $224,988;
Partners for Clean Streams, Inc., (Maumee RAP), restoring Ottawa River wetlands and habitat in the Maumee area of concern, $1,365,684;
The Nature Conservancy, invasive plant prevention and control , Grand River watershed, $843,000;
The Nature Conservancy, wet prairie restoration in the Maumee area of concern, $1,452,419;
The Nature Conservancy, phragmite control in western Lake Erie coastal wetlands, $497,331;
The Ohio State University College of Public Health, innovative rapid identification of Lake Erie fecal sources, $249,511; and
The University of Toledo, prevention of surface water contamination from biosolids, $550,228.