News
Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 22, 2007
Ohio Lake Erie Commission awards
MORE THAN $38,000 in grants
TOLEDO, OH
– A total of $38,674 has been awarded to four research projects that will
benefit Lake Erie and its environmental and
economic resources, according to the Ohio Lake Erie Commission.
The Lake County General Health District will receive $8,700 to design and install a drip
distribution sewage treatment system on county-owned property that will serve
as a host site for training installers; sanitarians; and others associated with
home sewage disposal systems. New system technologies will be used to
show how local organizations can meet the new regulations recently adopted by
the Ohio Department of Health.
The Cuyahoga River Community Planning Organization will receive
$9,974 for a
project to inventory the land use ordinances of the Cuyahoga River
watershed. The project will catalogue land use ordinances and related storm water
measures in the region into a central database. This database will help the
partnership more effectively promote watershed protection in the area.
The U.S. Geological
Survey will receive $10,000 for a project to improve the predictability of E. coli
levels in lakefront beaches, using Huntington Beach
in Bay Village
as a model. Results of the project will provide for more accurate and timely
water quality advisories along the lake for swimmers.
Bowling Green State University will receive $10,000 to research
the possible detoxification of heavy metals in Lake Erie
sediment, using microbial communities as a new tool.
These quarterly grants are limited to
$10,000 or less each and are generally awarded for one year unless the specific
nature of the project warrants a longer time period. Small grants may be
used as seed money to test the feasibility of larger research projects or to
support other small projects. Small
grant proposals are reviewed and selected at each quarterly meeting of the Ohio
Lake Erie Commission.
The commission was created to preserve Lake
Erie's natural resources, enhance its water quality and promote
economic development in the region. The director of the Ohio Department of
Natural Resources serves as the commission's chairman. Additional members
include the directors of the departments of transportation, development,
health, agriculture and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. The
commission oversees the Ohio Lake Erie Protection Fund, which is the source of
grant funding. This fund is supported by Ohioans each time they purchase a Lake
Erie license plate displaying the Marblehead Lighthouse as designed by Ohio artist Ben
Richmond.
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For Further
Information Contact:
Edwin J. Hammett, Executive Director;
Ohio Lake
Erie Commission
(419)
245-2514