© 2024
Virginia's Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Major Grant for Chesapeake Bay

AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

Environmental projects in Virginia are getting a big boon. The state is receiving nearly $8 million in funding to help clean the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.

In addition to matching support from private companies, the funds come largely from the federal government.

“Restoring the bay is imminently doable, we just need to ramp up our efforts and we need to think creatively and we need to think innovatively," says Jeff Corbin with the EPA.

Grant money will go to 12 different projects in the state that are considered innovative -- including the restoration of trout habitat, and attempts to reduce sediment erosion into the James River.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe announced the grants at Maymont,  public park along the river in Richmond.

“The actions we’re taking today are just the beginning of us leading the nation on making sure we are protecting our most valuable natural resource.”

The Chesapeake is the largest estuary in the U-S and its watershed is home to more than 17 million people in six states.

Mallory Noe-Payne is a Radio IQ reporter based in Richmond.
Related Content