Duluth receives green infrastructure grant

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded a $250,000 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant to the City of Duluth to fund green infrastructure projects to improve water quality in the Lake Superior Basin. Duluth is the first of 16 cities to receive funding in the initial round of EPA’s new Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Shoreline Cities grant program. The grant will be used for green stormwater management projects at three locations: Lake Superior Zoo, Atlas Industrial Brownfield Park, and Chambers Grove Park. The Duluth Seaway Port Authority, State of Minnesota, City of Duluth, Duluth Economic Development Authority and the U.S. Army Reserve will provide contributions totaling $250,000 to match the EPA grant. The EPA will award Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Shoreline Cities Green Infrastructure Grants to 15 additional cities on the U.S. side of the Great Lakes. These grants will be used to fund up to 50 per cent of the cost of rain gardens, bioswales, green roofs, porous pavement, greenways, constructed wetlands, stormwater tree trenches and other green infrastructure projects on public property.