Environmental Journal – Captains’ Bay Cleanup Efforts Are Rewarded With Grant
By Peter B. Lord
Last week’s announcement of more federal grants for state and community efforts to remove debris from local waterways shows once again that a scrappy pair of sea captains have put Rhode Island ahead of its neighbors when it comes to cleaning up local waters.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Monday the award of $1.17 million in grants to 14 community-based marine prevention and removal projects around the country.
Rhode Island first got news of its share last summer from U.S. Sen. Jack Reed’s office. Rhode Island is getting $170,000 to finance the Clean the Bay program created by Ed Hughes and Alan Wentworth. The grant is significantly larger than every other grant made in the region.
The two sea captains created their own volunteer program in 2005 and started picking up discarded boats, dock parts and wood that littered Narragansett Bay and its shores.
Since they began their efforts with an old landing craft and crane and won NOAA financing, the two have removed nearly 1,200 tons of refuse from the Bay. In 2006, they got a $150,000 grant from NOAA. It was the largest such grant to any state in the country.
Their latest grant is targeted at cleaning up an additional 400 tons of debris from 110 miles of coastline.
In Maryland, the National Aquarium is getting $45,000 to remove marine debris around Chesapeake Bay. The aquarium has 75 volunteers to help remove a ton of debris from 10 to 15 acres of shoreline waters and about two miles of shoreline.
In New Hampshire, the state’s university was awarded $60,000 to educate teachers, volunteers and fishermen to track and remove debris from coastal waters.
In Connecticut, Goodwin College in East Hartford is getting $40,000 to involve student groups in the removal of 900 cubic yards of debris from the Connecticut River.
NOAA is now reviewing another round of money requests that were submitted by the Oct. 31 deadline.
For more information, go to http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/ welcome.html. For more information about Rhode Island’s Clean the Bay campaign, go to http://www.cleanthebay.org/.
Environmental justice, King-style
As part of a celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a New York City legal expert is scheduled to give a talk at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23, at Roger Williams University titled: “Twenty Years of Environmental Justice Success: A Tribute to the Work of Dr. King.”
Samara F. Swanston will share stories about environmental justice victories and will focus on how people can make use of lessons learned in the civil-rights struggle that held leaders to be morally responsible and accountable.
Swanston is the environmental protection committee counsel to the New York City Council, a part-time administrative law judge with the New York City Environmental Control Board and a visiting professor at the Pratt Institute Graduate School for Urban Planning and the Environment.
She also serves as the New York state chairwoman of the Sierra Club Environmental Justice Committee. Swanston previously worked as a Superfund attorney with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and she was awarded the EPA’s Gold Medal, the agency’s highest honor.
Swanston also spent 10 years as executive director and general counsel of the Watchperson Project of Greenpoint Williamsburg, a non- governmental environmental advocacy program in Brooklyn.
Species invasion concerns council
The Coastal Resources Management Council is scheduled to vote on a new aquatic invasive-species management plan for Rhode Island and on plans to replace the Sakonnet River Bridge when the council meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Narragansett Bay Commission headquarters in Providence.
The new invasive-species plan is a broad outline that sets goals and strategies for reducing invasions of more exotic species and dealing with those already here.
The bridge plans require a special exception from the CRMC because they include filling in tidal waters and coastal wetlands and dredging for bridge piers and a boat ramp.
The council also plans to vote on new regulations reflecting expected rises in sea level due to climate change.
Finally, the CRMC is scheduled to consider the following applications:
* Plans by Timothy and Joy Csanadi to construct a 4-foot-by-185- foot pier from their property at 23 Surf Drive in Bristol.
* A 14-lot subdivision with 1,100 feet of new roadway proposed for the Narrow River watershed in North Kingstown by Plum Hill Properties of Boston.
* A request by Kathleen Gallant, of 26 Wheatfield Cove Rd., Narragansett, to approve a new pier that was not built according to previously reviewed plans and appears to cross a neighbor’s property line.
Watershed group seeks new head
The Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association is looking for an executive director to replace its longtime leader, Lori Urso.
Candidates must have skills in general administration and accounting, outreach and advocacy, property and capital project management, and fundraising and development.
The 24-year-old organization has 1,000 members, 4 staffers and a headquarters on the Wood River in Barberville.
The job description reads: “This is a challenging position that encourages autonomous and creative leaderships, and offers an opportunity to develop and implement creative environmental solutions to watershed issues.”
For more information go to the group’s Web site at www.wpwa.org. The deadline for applications is Feb. 4.
Grants available up to $75,000
A total of $180,000 in federal grant money is available for projects that conserve soil, water and energy resources, or improve air quality, grazing land or forest health in Rhode Island.
The grants are available through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program of the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Grants of up to $75,000 may be made for projects involving local farmers as well as government or non-government organizations or individuals.
Three workshops have been scheduled at 7 p.m. in various locations this week to provide more information.
On Tuesday, the workshop will be at the Northern Rhode Island Conservation District Office at 17 Smith Ave., Greenville. Call (401) 949-1480 for information.
On Wednesday, the workshop will be at the U.S. Department of Agriculture conference room at 60 Quaker Lane in Warwick. Call (401) 284-1885 for information.
On Thursday, the workshop will be at the Eastern Rhode Island Conservation District Office at 2490 Main Rd., Tiverton. Call (401) 624-7490 for information.
The deadline for applications is Feb. 29.
The Environmental Journal is a listing of brief news items about the actions of individuals, organizations and businesses that affect the air we breathe, the water we drink and the landscape that surrounds us. If you have comments or suggestions, please contact environment reporter Peter B. Lord at (401) 277-8036, or by e-mail at plord@projo.com or by writing him, care of The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, RI 02902.
plord@projo.com / (401) 277-8036
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