Six in Maryland get Green Street Awards

Six Maryland communities and organizations were awarded grant funding Wednesday for their efforts in improving the environment and creating green jobs.

Ten organizations received the “Green Street Award,” which included grants in various amounts to help pay for infrastructure projects that reduce runoff and increase energy efficiency. The total of all 10 grants was $376,000.

The six Maryland recipients were the Belair-Edison Neighborhoods Inc., Southeast Community Development Corp., Housing Initiative Partnership, the town of Delmar, the town of Forest Heights and the Water Environment Federation. While some of the winning groups received grants for design or education, others will use the money for construction.

The biggest of the Maryland grants was $67,100, which went to the Southeast Community Development Corp. in Baltimore to build rain gardens in two neighborhood parks.

Belair-Edison Neighborhoods will use its $34,960 grant to design a “Blue Alley” and create a green sidewalk, both of which will reduce runoff.

“Our community really values the idea of a better environment, a greener environment,” said Chad Hayes, director of commercial revitalization for Belair-Edison Neighborhoods. “We’re willing to put our own sweat into making this happen.”

The Chesapeake Bay Trust, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Maryland Department of the Environment announced the recipients Wednesday at John Eager Howard Elementary School.

Recipients outside of Maryland included two projects in Virginia, one in West Virginia and one in Pennsylvania.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake spoke at the event to congratulate the grant recipients.

“We need to have a sustainable city,” Rawlings-Blake said following the announcement, “and that’s what this program represents.”

Another focus of the event was on jobs created when communities launch environmental projects.

“We can connect the environment and green jobs,” said Jana Davis, executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Trust.

Throughout the event, about 30 individuals worked on a rain garden project at John Eager Howard Elementary School, digging up soil and planting trees and smaller plants. These individuals were participating in a week-long green jobs training program sponsored by the Department of Labor.

Because grants like the Green Street Awards are encouraging green infrastructure development, “there’s going to be more to maintain, more opportunities,” said Bryan Seipp, watershed manager for the Ellicott City-based Center for Watershed Protection, who worked with the trainees at the event. “The way we maintain it is by training people like this.”

The Chesapeake Bay Trust funded the project at John Eager Howard, which was led by Ashley Traut, senior program manager at Blue Water Baltimore, an organization that aims to clean up the city’s waterways and harbor. While the rain garden was small, it will significantly impact the amount of storm water runoff from the school’s field, said Traut.

When all the small projects come together, he said, “it makes a tremendous difference.”