Massachusetts SNEP grants announced
EPA New England Regional Administrator Alexandra Dunn speaks to attendees.
Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are pleased to announce the 2018 Massachusetts recipients of the Southeast New England Program (SNEP) Watershed Grants.
Launched in early 2018, SNEP grants target water pollution, habitat degradation, and other high-priority environmental issues in the region in order to foster sustainable coastal and watershed communities. Grants are awarded in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Of 14 projects funded in Southeast New England, seven are in Massachusetts, including a large-impact project to reduce pollution and allow new housing and economic development in several Buzzards Bay communities; a restoration of wetlands and wildlife habitat–including native brook trout– in abandoned cranberry bogs in Falmouth; and an innovative project to install and test a new technology for cleaning up polluted groundwater on Martha’s Vineyard.
Sen. Ed Markey congratulated recipients at the event, “Massachusetts and Rhode Island are leading the country in coastal invocation. This funding will bolster our shared coastal ecosystems and communities for generations to come.”
Rep. Bill Keating honed in on the critical task of improving water quality in the region. “SNEP has help to improve and preserve the water quality of countless of our estuaries, bays, and rivers. Their success show that our community is taking seriously water quality issues in our region and is serious about addressing them.”
SNEP Watershed Grants are the product of a partnership between RAE and EPA New England. A goal of this program is to support innovative projects and critical partnerships to tackle Southeast New England’s most pressing environmental concerns.
Others in attendance included Alexandra Dunn, EPA New England Regional Administrator, Gary Moran, Deputy Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, and Rear Admiral Francis X. McDonald, Massachusetts Maritime Academy President.
To learn more about SNEP, please visit our website.
2018 SNEP Watershed Grants (Massachusetts):
- Association to Preserve Cape Cod to restore water quality in the Three Bays estuary in Barnstable through an innovative watershed management program ($350,000)
- Buzzards Bay Coalition to reduce nitrogen pollution to Upper Buzzards Bay and foster economic development by leading a project to expand the capacity of the Wareham wastewater treatment facility ($419,006)
- Cape Cod Commission to develop a Cape-wide water quality database and management system, to support clean water restoration efforts by federal, state and local organizations ($399,998);
- Falmouth Rod & Gun Club for an innovative cranberry bog and river restoration project in Falmouth and Mashpee ($450,000)
- Martha’s Vineyard Commission for an innovative project to reduce groundwater pollution to Lagoon Pond on Martha’s Vineyard through installation and testing of a Permeable Reactive Barrier (PRB) ($250,000)
- Pleasant Bay Alliance to restore water quality in Cape Cod’s largest estuary by leading a coordinated program by the Towns of Brewster, Chatham, Harwich and Orleans ($250,000)
- Southeast Regional Planning & Economic Development District (SRPEDD) to continue leading the Resilient Taunton Watershed Network (RTWN), a collaboration among communities working to preserve and restore the Taunton River watershed ($100,000)