Duluth gains U.S. EPA’s 1st Great Lakes Shoreline Cities Green Infrastructure Grant

(DULUTH - Feb. 20, 2014) The E.P.A. today announced the award of a $250,000 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant to the City of Duluth to fund green infrastructure plans to enhance water quality in the Lake Superior Basin. Duluth is the 1st of 16 cities to gain backing in the initial round of EPA's new Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Shoreline Cities grant program.

E.P.A. Region five Administrator / Great Lakes National Plan Manager Susan Hedman joined Duluth Mayor Don Ness at the Lake Superior Zoo today to declare the grant, which will be used for green stormwater management plans at 3 locations: the Lake Superior Zoo, the Atlas Industrial Brownfield Park and Chambers Grove Park. The State of Minnesota, the City of Duluth, the Duluth Economic Development Authority, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, and the U.S. Army Reserve will provide contributions totaling $250,000 to supplement the E.P.A. grant.

"I'm pleased to award EPA's 1st Great Lakes Shoreline Cities Green Infrastructure grant to Duluth - a city that recently experienced the devastating effects of an extreme rain event," said Hedman. "This grant will be used to fund stormwater management plans that will enhance water quality in the Lake Superior Basin."

"We are very grateful for the EPA's support. This is a tremendous opportunity for the City of Duluth and the Lake Superior Basin," said Duluth Mayor Don Ness. "By constructing green stormwater management infrastructure at Chambers Grove Park, the Lake Superior Zoo, and the Atlas Industrial Brownfield Park, we will greatly reduce the amount of untreated stormwater discharged into the Saint Louis River and into the Lake Superior Basin."

In the coming weeks, E.P.A. will award Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Shoreline Cities Green Infrastructure Grants to 15 additional cities on the U.S. side of the Great Lakes. These grants will be used to fund up to 50 percent of the cost of rain gardens, bioswales, green roofs, porous pavement, greenways, constructed wetlands, stormwater tree trenches and other green infrastructure plans on public property that are designed to enhance water quality in the Great Lakes Basin.

To find more information about the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative or Shoreline Cities Green Infrastructure Grants, visit www.glri.us.

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