All News Releases By Date

MEDIA ADVISORY: US EPA Regional Administrator to Participate in Discussion on 2014 Urban Waters Grants to Promote Proctor Creek Restoration

Release Date: 08/28/2014
Contact Information: Dawn Harris Young, EPA, (404) 562-8421 (Direct), (404) 562-8400 (Main), [email protected]

ATLANTA – On Tuesday, Sept. 2, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Administrator Heather McTeer Toney will meet with three 2014 Urban Waters Grants awardees to highlight their work to help protect and restore the Proctor Creek watershed, improve water quality, and support community revitalization and other local priorities. The awardees are: the Center for Watershed Protection, Inc.; the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, Inc. and Environmental Community Action, Inc.

WHO:
U.S. EPA Regional Administrator Heather McTeer Toney

WHAT:
Discussion with 2014 Urban Waters Grants awardees to discuss their work to help protect and restore the Proctor Creek watershed

WHEN:
1:00 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2014

WHERE:
Spelman College
The Suites Private Dining Room
350 Spelman Lane S.W.
Atlanta, GA 30314

MEDIA RSVP:
All media who would like to attend the event should RSVP Dawn Harris Young at [email protected]. Please include your name, media affiliation and contact information.

In 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency selected 37 organizations to receive grants of $40,000 to $60,000 each, totaling approximately $2.1 million to support such projects. The funding is part of EPA’s Urban Waters program, which supports communities in their efforts to access, improve, and benefit from their urban waters and the surrounding land. Many urban waterways have been polluted for years by sewage, runoff from city streets and contamination from abandoned industrial facilities. Healthy and accessible urban waters can help grow local businesses and enhance economic, educational, recreational and social opportunities in nearby communities. By reconnecting communities to their local urban waters, EPA will help communities to actively participate in restoring urban waters while improving their neighborhoods.

The Urban Waters Federal Partnership is a partnership of 14 federal agencies working to reconnect urban communities with their waterways by improving coordination among federal agencies and collaborating with community-led revitalization efforts. All funded projects work to advance environmental justice in their communities, and focus on one of the following three categories: community greening and green infrastructure, communities and water quality data, or integration of water quality and community development in planning.

Information on EPA’s Urban Waters program: https://www.epa.gov/urbanwaters

Information on the Urban Waters Federal Partnership: http://www.urbanwaters.gov/

To view a list of the selected projects that will be funded, visit https://www.epa.gov/urbanwaters/urban-waters-small-grants.

Connect with EPA Region 4 on Facebook: www.facebook.com/eparegion4

And on Twitter: @USEPASoutheast