Capital
District Community Gardens in Troy and the Schenectady Inner
City Ministry both received environmental justice grants from
the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
The DEC
awarded Environmental Justice Community Impact Grants to 50
organizations that serve communities facing multiple sources of
environmental harms and risks. Commissioner Pete Grannis
announced the awards, totaling more than $1.6 million, today.
“The
Environmental Justice grants we are awarding today will support
community gardens, environmental education programs for kids,
and other environmental projects in low-income communities,”
Gov. David A. Paterson said in a press release. “These
communities, many of which bear significant environmental
burdens from polluting facilities and have inadequate open
space, deserve special attention from government.”
Capital District Community Gardens (www.cdcg.org)
won $25,000 to construct an urban farm on vacant inner-city land
and develop an entrepreneurial job training and environmental
education programs for local youth.
Schenectady Inner City Ministry (www.sicm.us)
was awarded $50,000 to develop a household hazardous waste
collection system for low-income residents in downtown
Schenectady.
This
year, 92 groups from around the state applied for Environmental
Justice Community Impact Grant funding. Reviews by DEC staff
resulted in 50 grant awards ranging from $14,500 to $50,000.
Projects include community gardens and green roofs, air and
water quality monitoring, lead poisoning prevention, urban
forestry, subsistence fishing education, environmental education
for urban youth, inventories of local pollution sources, and an
international climate justice conference.
“Working with our communities to help protect our environment
and public health is a top priority for DEC,” said Commissioner
Grannis. “Programs like the EJ Grants are critically important
components of this effort.”
The
funding comes from the Environmental Justice Community Impact
Research Grant program. Launched in 2006, the program helps
local organizations with projects that address environmental
and/or public health concerns. The program concentrates on
communities that have historically been overburdened by problems
such as a high density of contaminated sites, noise, air and
water pollution, health problems and lack of green space and
waterfront access.
For a
complete list of the grant winners, click
here.
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