Greenbytes: May 7, 2003 Edition

Greetings from EPA New England. We hope you find this edition of Greenbytes useful and we encourage you to give us feedback. Please send an email to Paul Wintrob with your thoughts, comments or suggestions: wintrob.paul@epa.gov

Feature: Three New England Watersheds Receive Major EPA Funding

Inspired in part by the enormous cleanup progress she saw when she visited the Charles River two years ago, EPA Administrator Christie Whitman last week announced a new national Watershed Initiative that included nearly $15 million of grants awarded to 20 watershed organizations across the country.

Among the 20 winners – selected from more than 176 nominations – are the Meduxnekeag watershed in eastern Maine, the Charles River in Massachusetts, and Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

The projects are as follows:

Meduxnekeag Watershed
The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians received a $700,000 grant for two major projects in the Meduxnekeag watershed. The first project will reduce soil erosion and improve water quality by providing information and funding for farmers in the watershed to adopt crop rotation practices. The second project will seek to identify and correct sewer connections in the Town of Houlton that may be leaking sewage into the river. The projects will be done in collaboration with Maine DEP, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Town of Houlton and the Southern Aroostook Soil and Conservation District.

Lower Charles River Watershed
The Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) received $400,000 to continue various cleanup activities on the Charles River. Among the projects that will be pursued: DNA-based monitoring of dry weather and stormwater discharges from storm drains will be done to better pinpoint sources of bacteria sources to the river; Programs to notify the river’s many recreational users about current water quality conditions will be expanded, including the use of color-coded flags at boat houses along the river; CRWA will work with the MA Division of Fisheries and Wildlife with its assessment of current fish populations in the Charles in developing target fish communities in the river; The watershed association will expand distribution of cistern/drywell systems to watershed residents so that more rainwater can be retained in the watershed as opposed to washing down storm drains and out of the watershed.

Narragansett Bay Watershed
The $800,000 grant for Narragansett Bay that will support water quality/habitat improvement projects in the bay and a half-dozen fish restoration projects in tributaries of the bay. The projects include: eelgrass restoration and monitoring work on the bay, totaling nearly $300,000; restoration of herring and shad runs on the Pawtuxet River; installation of two fish ladders on the Three Mile River; rehabilitation of a fishway at Bradford Dam on the Wood-Pawcatuck River; and stormwater remediation work to improve fish habitat and water quality on the Narrow River in Rhode Island and Whitings Pond and Leesville Pond, both in Massachusetts. The projects will be implemented through a coalition known as the Partnership for Narragansett Bay.

Web Resources:

• New England Rivers and Watersheds
• Watershed Initiative
• New England State Unit Pages
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • Rhode Island

Press Releases

Woonasquatucket and Blackstone Rivers Win Pilot Award for EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers River Revitalization Project

EPA Awards $700,000 For Maine Watershed Program on Meduxnekeag River

EPA Announces $400,000 to Improve Water Quality in Charles River

Manchester, NH Realtor Pays $9,000 Penalty For Lead Paint Disclosure Violations

EPA Begins Spring Work at Centredale Manor Restoration Project in Rhode Island

St. Albans, VT Settles Chemical Risk Planning Case With EPA; Will Pay $10,000 Fine and Eliminate Chlorine Use at Wastewater Plant

Lewiston to Make $150,000 Loan From Brownfields Fund

Town of Peru, Maine Wins EPA Site Assessment Grant

EPA Proposes Troy Mills to Superfund List

Summer Smog Season Begins; EPA to Provide Free Forecasts and Real-Time Tracking

EPA to Hold Public Meeting for Holyoke Residents to Discuss Environmental Concerns (En Español)

Mansfield Company Pays $5,500 For Labeling Error on Algae Treatment Devices

EPA to Hold Public Info Meeting re: Cleanup of the Bristol Franklin Street Site in Bristol, CT

Environmental Awards:

• CT
• ME
• MA
• NH
• RI
• VT
• Health Care
• Performance Track

EPA Administrator Whitman Visits Portland School to Tout ‘Clean' School Buses

Events and conferences are not archived. Please refer to the Regional Calendar for upcoming events and conferences.

About Us - updated organizational charts

Brownfields - what’s new

CEIT - upcoming events, recent newsletters added

Combined Sewer Overflows - site updated

Connecticut State Unit - updated press and recent actions section

Connecticut River - updated press, and links

General Electric Superfund Site - 1.5 mile-hr removal mar 2003 monthly report added

Information by Zip Code - new echo site added

Invasive Species - new state by state links

Long Island Sound Dredging - new reports added

NPDES - new gen permit for stormwater ms4s

Wells G&H Superfund Site - reports and press added

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