Pa. Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts to get federal money

• Rachel McDevitt
  BioRecent Stories

  

  I report on energy and the environment for StateImpact Pennsylvania at WITF.
  
  My work focuses on responses and solutions to climate change in the state legislature and communities around the state. I trace my interest in these issues back to my time as a Girl Scout and this episode of Rocko’s Modern Life.
  
  I look forward to winter just for the chance to ski a few times each season. I try to keep myself from doom-scrolling on my phone by keeping my hands busy knitting and learning to play the piano.
  
  I grew up in Cambria County, Pa. and graduated from Temple University. I started at WITF just after Christmas in 2014.

Rachel McDevitt / StateImpact Pennsylvania

Scum floats on the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg on Aug. 4, 2023. The Susquehanna is the larest tributary to the Chesapeake Bay.

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More than $5 million is heading to Pennsylvania to help reduce pollution flowing to the Chesapeake Bay.

Pennsylvania has been lagging behind other bay states in meeting cleanup goals set for 2025.

The Environmental Protection Agency recently reached a settlement with other bay states, agreeing to step up oversight in the commonwealth.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and EPA announced $9.6 million in grants to organizations in bay states this week. The money is from the 2021 federal infrastructure law. Groups are matching the grants with their own money.

In Pennsylvania, more than $5.5 million will be split between Penn State University, the Stroud Water Research Center, the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, the Nature Conservancy, and the Tioga County Soil and Water Conservation District of New York.

Many of the projects focus on planting buffers to keep pollutants out of waterways and helping farmers adopt practices to keep sediment and nutrients on their fields, instead of running off into streams.

Penn State is getting $1 million to build partnerships in faith communities. It plans to help places of worship start green infrastructure projects and support members of the congregations adopt farm conservation practices.

The Stroud Water Research Center plans to use a $1 million grant to grow forest buffers and train conservation workers in 8 counties across the state’s watershed.

The state Department of Environmental Protection also this week awarded $3.8 million in watershed restoration grants.

“Clean water is a key part of a community’s health,” said DEP Secretary Rich Negrin. “That’s why cleaning up Pennsylvania waters is vital in ensuring our communities live happier and healthier lives.”

The 15 projects benefiting from the grants focus on reducing pollution that can’t be traced back to a single source, called nonpoint source pollution.

The projects range from Conowingo Creek restoration in Lancaster County, to farmland management in Mifflin County and acid mine drainage solutions statewide.

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About StateImpact Pennsylvania

StateImpact Pennsylvania is a collaboration among WITF, WHYY, and the Allegheny Front. Reporters Reid Frazier, Rachel McDevitt and Susan Phillips cover the commonwealth’s energy economy. Read their reports on this site, and hear them on public radio stations across Pennsylvania.

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