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Williams/Transco Gas Company Earns Five Stars for Wetlands Enhancement Project

Release Date: 9/6/2002
Contact Information: Bonnie Smith, (215) 814-5543

Bonnie Smith, (215) 814-5543

PHILADELPHIA – The Williams/Transco Gas Company of Frazer, Pa. has been awarded $7,500 for a wetlands enhancement project. Grant funds will help to purchase native plants and construction materials for a wetland restoration project in Chester County.

The award is part of the Five-Star Restoration Grant Program, providing community-based partnerships grants to support wetlands and stream side restoration projects

“EPA promotes the importance of wetlands restoration projects creating wetlands that provide the natural filters needed to protect our groundwater, and reduce storm water runoff,” said Donald S. Welsh, U.S. EPA mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator.

Williams/Transco in collaboration with other partners have, enhanced a quarter acre wooded wetland by creating a 120-foot berm. The berm contains water during wet times of the year, provides habitat for various species of wildlife and allows rain and snow melt to return to the ground, as opposed to running across surrounding agricultural fields and roads.

Primary funding for Five-Star grants is provided by the EPA’s Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries’ community-based restoration program. Additional funding is provided by EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program, EPA Region III and Lockheed Martin Corporation.

Five-Star Restoration Projects involve cooperation between at least five participants from local governments, corporations and businesses, schools and youth groups, environmental and citizen organizations, and federal and state government agencies.

Partners work together to improve water quality and restore important fish and wildlife habitats. The funded projects were selected from a competitive pool of nearly 200 applicants. Funding is based on the program’s educational and training opportunities for students and at-risk youth, the ecological benefits to be derived, and the project’s other cultural and economic benefits to the community.