State Announces Grants for Water Protection, Habitat Restoration
BOSTON — Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary (EEA) Maeve Vallely Bartlett announced $429,239 in grants from the Massachusetts Environmental Trust (MET) for projects to protect and restore rivers, watersheds, and wildlife across the Commonwealth, including three awards in Western Mass.
“The Massachusetts Environmental Trust has been a critical conservation leader in protecting the vital waterways of Massachusetts for over 20 years,” said Bartlett. “By communities and conservation partners collaborating and working together with the Commonwealth, we can develop important projects for maintaining and protecting our clean waters for generations to come.”
Ranging from $15,000 to $50,000, the grants will help support 13 projects in Amherst, Great Barrington, Ipswich, Lee, Lincoln, Methuen, Newton, Plymouth, Provincetown, Taunton, Wareham, Weston, and Westport. The local projects include:
• Town of Amherst, $36,100 to study the contamination of Fearing Brook, and to develop and begin to implement remedial strategies to improve the water quality of the brook.
• Town of Great Barrington, $30,000 to study water quality in Lake Mansfield.
• Housatonic Valley Assoc. in Lee, $15,911 to design and install stormwater vegetative buffers to reduce roadway runoff into Churchill Brook in Pittsfield.
Since it was founded in 1988 as part of the Boston Harbor cleanup, MET has awarded more than $19 million in grants to organizations statewide that provide a wide array of environmental services, from supporting water projects in communities to protecting coastal habitats.
