Home / Erie County receives over $248,000 for coastal projects from DEP Coastal Resource Management grants

Erie County receives over $248,000 for coastal projects from DEP Coastal Resource Management grants

Posted on

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 23, 2020

CONTACT:
Joy Fronzoli
jfronzoli@eriecountypa.gov
814-451-7332

Erie, PA – Pennsylvania’s Coastal Resources Management Program has awarded Erie County over $240,000 for coastal projects.

“Our coastal zones are vital environmental, economic and community resources for the commonwealth,” said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell. “Each year, the diverse Coastal zone projects help us rethink, reexamine and rededicate our efforts toward a comprehensive approach to ensuring the sustainability of these habitats.”

Coastal zones are the area where land meets the coast and include both coastal waters and adjacent shorelands and are under increasing pressure from development, erosion, biodiversity loss and pollution. Coastal zone grants are awarded to projects related to fisheries, wetlands, stormwater management improvements, recreation, public education, coastal hazards such as bluff recession, and other areas. Grants may also be awarded to other projects in the watershed that have an impact on coastal waters.

The following is a list of the awarded 2020 CRM projects in Erie County:

  • Erie Bird Observatory – $50,000 to conduct research on bird migration in the Lake Erie Coastal Zone and to promote awareness of birding as an economic driver in the Erie area
  • Erie County Conservation District – $11,500 to purchase and provide Mobi-Mats to allow for beach access for persons with disabilities at Freeport Beach (Halli Reid Park) and 20 Mile Beach
  • Gannon University – $12,217 for the Summer School of Excellence to educate approximately 30 high school students from Erie, Crawford and Warren counties on coastal zone environmental issues
  • Lawrence Park Township – $45,000 to rehabilitate and restore the Lakeside boat launch to its original, functional condition
  • Regional Science Consortium – $50,000 to research the occurrence of saxitoxin from harmful algal blooms along the coastline of Lake Erie

Funded primarily by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the grants are administered by DEP’s Coastal Resources Management Program. Since federal approval of the DEP Coastal Resources Management Program in 1980, the program has provided more than $50 million in funding for coastal zone projects.

For more information on awarded grants or how to apply to this program, please contact Joy Fronzoli at 814-451-7332 or jfronzoli@eriecountypa.gov.

###

Download PDF of media release