From: U.S. EPA <usaepa@service.govdelivery.com>
Date: Fri, Aug 15, 2014 at 8:52 AM
Subject: News Release: New Jersey Organizations Use EPA Grants to Monitor Water Pollution in their Communities; EPA Launches Equipment Loan Program to Help Community Organizations Collect Environmental Data
To: iammejtm@gmail.com
New Jersey Organizations Use EPA Grants to Monitor Water Pollution in their Communities EPA Launches Equipment Loan Program to Help Community Organizations Collect Environmental Data
Contact: John Martin, (212) 637-3662, martin.johnj@epa.gov
(New York, N.Y. – August 15, 2014) With support of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency "citizen science" grants, two New Jersey community groups have begun their final weeks of summer water pollution monitoring. The New York/New Jersey Baykeeper and Friends of the Bonsal Preserve have been using $25,000 grants to monitor water quality on tributaries of the New York/New Jersey Harbor. The groups are testing for the bacteria Enterococcus, which indicates the presence of fecal contamination, and are also measuring general water quality parameters such as dissolved oxygen, pH, and temperature. Sampling concludes in late August.
"Citizen science is an important, growing field that can provide invaluable insight into pollution problems in local communities," said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck. "This funding will help inform local residents about the environmental conditions in their own backyards." Equipment used by the New York/New Jersey Baykeeper and Friends of the Bonsal Preserve is part of the EPA's new equipment loan program. Sampling and laboratory equipment is often the most expensive part of a monitoring program. Through this initiative, citizen science groups will be able to collect data in their own communities with fewer up-front costs. By lending this equipment to eligible community groups, the EPA hopes to allow more citizen scientists the opportunity to collect high quality data and increase environmental stewardship in their community.
For more information on Citizen Science, visit: http://epa.gov/region2/citizenscience.
Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eparegion2 and Facebook at http://facebook.com/eparegion2.
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Jeremy Tobias Matthews
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