North Fork Groups Receive Federal Funding to Help Clean LI Sound

Photo: Google Maps

Local North Fork groups dedicated to cleaning the Long Island Sound, were given given federal grants as part of a larger initiative to improve the health of the Long Island Sound.

The initiative gave a total of 22 grants totaling $1.3 million to groups in both Connecticut and New York.

The projects will open up 12.4 miles of river for passage of native fish and restore 80 acres of coastal habitat, including intertidal marsh, coastal forest, grasslands and freshwater wetlands.

More than 70,000 citizens will be reached by environmental and conservation programs supported by the grants. Nearly 2.9 million gallons of water pollution will be treated through the delivery of water quality improvement projects.

The North Fork projects funded were:

• Peconic Green Growth Inc. received a grant of $60,000 with a recipient match contribution of $46,640 for their Orient Project. Their plan is to innovative clustered decentralized wastewater (sewage) treatment for approximately 354 homes in the area aimed at reducing nitrogen loading into the aquifer and surface waters of Long Island Sound by 50% to 90%.
• American Farmland Trust received a grant of $86,892 with a recipient match contribution of $211,293.They are working with 10 farm operators on the Long Island Sound Watershed to adopt soil health and advanced nutrient management practices to reduce nitrogen fertilizer use by 20% on 15 acres of vegetable farms.
  
• The Azuero Earth Project DBA Perfect Earth Project received a grant of $32,788 with a recipient match contribution of $33,269. They are designing and delivering a toxin-free lawn care program with education for homeowners and landscapers and measure chemical reductions on 75 acres of lawn in Southold and Riverhead.

The public-private grant program gave funds provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) the Long Island Sound Funders Collaborative and the Dissolved Oxygen Environmental Benefit Fund – the result of a New York and Connecticut legal settlement.

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