On April 25, the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program (NEP) announced $808,500 in federally funded grant awards for projects that will improve water quality in the Buzzards Bay watershed by upgrading wastewater treatment plants and reducing stormwater runoff pollution. The three grants were awarded by the Buzzards Bay NEP through CZM, with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pursuant to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. These three grants are leveraging $484,000 in local cash and in-kind services:
Bourne – The $183,500 grant award will be used to hire an engineering firm to design stormwater treatment options to address nutrient and bacteria loading to Queen Sewell Pond, which has caused beach closures due to harmful algal blooms and elevated bacteria levels.
Dartmouth – With this $250,000 grant, the Town will make modifications to its wastewater treatment facility to better meet permitted discharge limits for certain pollutants and significantly reduce nitrogen discharges to Buzzards Bay, potentially removing more than 100,000 pounds of nitrogen pollution each year.
New Bedford – This $375,000 award will be used to complete Phase II of the Buttonwood Park stormwater management project, which will address sediment erosion and pollutant discharges from the Buttonwood Senior Center property and nearby neighborhoods, including waste from a large Canada geese population.
For more information, see the EEA Press Release. Also, see this article on CapeCod.com for news coverage of the grants: Bourne Gets State Money for Queen Sewell Pond Cleaning.
