All News Releases By Date

Delaware gets EPA grant to control storm water runoff

Release Date: 7/17/2003
Contact Information: Roy Seneca 215-814-5567

Contact: Roy Seneca 215-814-5567
PHILADELPHIA - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a $1.66 million grant to help control pollution from storm water runoff throughout Delaware.

The grant, which goes to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s (DNREC) non-point source program, will be combined with $1.1 million in state and local funds to support several storm water projects.

“EPA is pleased to be a partner in Delaware’s aggressive approach to cleaning up waterways that have been impaired by storm water runoff from agricultural, residential, commercial and industrial areas,” said Donald S. Welsh, regional administrator for EPA’s mid-Atlantic Region.

Storm water pollution – sometimes called non-point source pollution – is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over or through the ground and carrying natural or human-made pollutants into lakes, streams, rivers, oceans and other water bodies. Some of the projects supported with the funding include:

• A tree planting program by Delaware’s Department of Agriculture Forest Service to develop riparian buffers in rural and urban environments of the Chesapeake, Christina and Inland Bays watersheds.

• Funding for the University of Delaware and the Chester County, Pennsylvania Conservation District to implement plans to control discharge of pollutants – known as Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) – in the Christina River basin.

• Studies by the University of Delaware to assess agricultural runoff and the nitrogen surplus on farms.
• Operating an on-site septic system inspection program to reduce the discharge of nitrogen into the groundwater in the Inland Bays watershed.

• An assessment by the Sussex Conservation District to help determine future agricultural land use projects in the Little Assawoman watershed.

• Funding for planners in Kent and Sussex counties to help farmers develop nutrient management plans and assist farmers with applications for dairy manure storage systems, poultry manure storage systems, poultry composters, nutrient management plans, and covercrop in the Delaware Basin, Inland Bays and Chesapeake watersheds.

• Funding for the Delaware Department of Agriculture and Delaware Nutrient Management Commission to continue their program of moving farm manure from sensitive streams to areas where it can be used without causing nutrient problems.

• Funding for the Perkins Stream restoration project to reestablish the biological diversity and reduction of surface water pollutants entering the stream.

• Staffing a nutrient management coordinator for the Delaware Nutrient Management Commission.

###