CHICAGO (Nov. 15, 2005) — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has chosen the Huff Run Watershed Restoration Partnership, a project of Rural Action Inc., in central eastern Ohio to receive a $711,301 Targeted Watershed Grant. It is among 12 watersheds nationwide eligible to receive grants for innovative water quality protection projects.
"The goal of EPA's Targeted Watersheds Grant Program is to build on the successes of innovative local initiatives such as the Huff Run project," said EPA Regional Administrator Tom Skinner. "This project will serve as a national model for other communities to follow."
Extensive coal mining has severely damaged the relatively small, 14.7-square- mile watershed and degraded water quality and habitat for aquatic creatures. The partnership proposes to improve one of the most contaminated sites in the watershed. Grant funds will be used to build wetland treatment ponds that have
been shown to be effective in removing substantial amounts of aluminum and iron from highly acidic waters.
The three-year-old Targeted Watersheds Grant Program fosters community-based initiatives to help protect, preserve and restore local or regional watersheds. More information about this year's selections and the grants program is at www.epa.gov/owow/watershed/initiative.
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