(New York, N.Y.) From funding smart meters on…
(New York, N.Y.) From funding smart meters on
college campuses, to reducing hazardous chemicals in high school
laboratories, to promoting alternatives to dry cleaning, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency is making its pollution prevention
grants count across New Jersey and New York. The Agency has awarded
more than $600,000 in grants to fund projects that help prevent
pollution in these two states.
“EPA’s pollution prevention grants
help businesses, colleges and state agencies identify strategies to
reduce the use of toxic materials, save energy, protect human
health and save money,” said Regional Administrator Judith A.
Enck. “These grants will fund programs that reduce or
eliminate waste at the source, instead of treating pollution after
it is generated.”
EPA awarded the New York State Pollution
Prevention Institute at the Rochester Institute of Technology a
$69,000 grant to promote wet cleaning in dry cleaners throughout
the state. Traditional dry cleaning uses an environmentally
hazardous solvent, while wet cleaning uses water-based
biodegradable detergents. The New York State Pollution Prevention
Institute will select two dry cleaners as case studies, and will
provide technical assistance and funding to defray equipment costs
for converting to wet cleaning. Information will be shared with
other dry cleaning businesses.
EPA is providing the New York State Department
of Environmental Conservation $180,000 to train college students to
work as interns in pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities
conducting pollution prevention assessments of their operations.
The goals will be to achieve measurable reductions in energy and
water use, minimize contaminants present in wastewater discharges,
and reduce operational costs. EPA is also providing NYSDEC with
$90,000 to reduce hazardous chemicals being used, stored and
generated by New York State high school laboratories by providing
assistance with chemical inventories, the development of chemical
hygiene plans and the distribution of green chemistry
guides.
Rowan University will use a $106,194 EPA grant
to assist the pharmaceutical industry in implementing source
reduction, pollution prevention, and green engineering design
through an engineering clinic program. In these clinics, Rowan
professors and students will demonstrate to industry
representatives how they can reduce energy consumption, water
consumption, hazardous material releases and save money in their
manufacturing processes.
With the help of a $50,000 EPA grant, the
Rutgers University Center for Advanced Energy Systems will
implement a smart electrical metering system on their Busch and
Livingston campuses in Piscataway, New Jersey. Smart meters record
energy consumption and communicate that information to utilities
and their customers. This system will allow Rutgers to identify
ways to achieve energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption,
while reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and energy costs.
Rutgers will demonstrate the results of the smart metering system
to other universities in the state system and neighboring
universities.
EPA is additionally providing Rutgers University
with a $150,000 grant to recruit high school students as
“Water Champions” to lead water conservation changes
throughout their communities. These students will educate their
communities about water conservation, recruit local retailers to
participate in selling water efficient devices, gather data and
calculate water saved from installations of water efficient
devices, share project results and encourage participation from
other organizations.
These grants are part of the approximately $4
million in grants EPA awards each year aimed at preventing
pollution across the nation. For more information on EPA Region
2’s pollution prevention program, visit https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-region-2.
In support of pollution prevention, EPA will be
hosting a one-day conference entitled "Unleashing Green Chemistry
and Engineering in Service of a Sustainable Future," on Friday,
September 23, 2011 at the National Museum of the American Indian in
New York City. The event will highlight and encourage green
chemistry and engineering innovations, investments, applications,
and policies which can lead to improved human health and the
environment and a more sustainable economy.
For more information on EPA's upcoming Green
Chemistry conference, visit: http://www.scgcorp.com/greenchem2011/index.asp.
Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/eparegion2.