Winners of Past Environmental Justice Community Impact Grants
For more information on these projects, please call the Office of Environmental Justice at 518-402-8556 or toll free in New York State at 1-866-229-0497
2007 Winners
Clean Air Coalition of Western New York- Erie County
Award: $24,000
Project: Researching the Potential Link Between Air Pollution from Numerous Point and Mobile Sources on Community Exposure and Health - Clean Air Coalition will investigate the potential link between negative health impacts and air pollution from numerous point and mobile sources in the Town of Tonawanda's mixed industrial and residential zone, an area that includes a gasoline storage facility and coal-fired power plant among other sources. Research methods will include the use of personal air monitoring badges on resident volunteers, bucket air samplers, and a network of volunteers to track odors and acute health effects from suspected air emission sources. This project will support and widen the research scope of a currently funded DEC air toxics study.
North River Community Environmental Review Board, Inc. - New York County
Award: $22,767
Project: The North River Community Environmental Review Board (NRCERB) monitors water quality at the North River Water Pollution Control Plant in West Harlem in conjunction with the DEC and New York City Department of Environmental Protection and reports findings to the local community in bi-monthly caucuses. The EJ Grant will provide funding to support NRCERB's ongoing monitoring and community education work in this area.
Social Justice Center and Citizens' Environmental Coalition - Albany County
Award: $25,000
Project: Mitigating Multiple Harms: A Green Roof for the Social Justice Center - The Social Justice Center and Citizens' Environmental Coalition will work on short-term mitigation of poor air quality near the convergence of Washington and Central avenues in Albany by designing and installing a "green roof" on all or part of the 800 square foot roof of the Center's facility. The green roof is comprised of a rooftop garden of grasses and other plants that can absorb ozone and diesel fuel particulates in a heavily trafficked area. The project will include air quality monitoring at the site to evaluate the effectiveness of the green roof.
2006 Winners
Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper - Erie and Niagara Counties
Award: $25,000
Project: Riverwatch Volunteer Waterway Monitoring Action Campaigns - Riverkeeper will develop proactive campaigns for water quality monitoring, storm water education, pipe watch/spills monitoring, and habitat assessment.
Dunbar Association Inc. - Onondaga County
Award: $23,614
Project: Lead Education Resource Grant - Dunbar Association will address childhood lead poisoning in a South Syracuse community impacted by various environmental harms and risks including lead, asthma, poor nutrition, and the stresses associated with poverty through blood testing, research into the most effective ways to increase public awareness of the causes and prevention of lead poisoning, and follow up with further blood lead testing to determine the success of their education and outreach efforts.
Environmental Justice Action Group of Western New York - Erie County
Award: $24,496
Project: East Buffalo Community Hazard Identification Study - Environmental Justice Action Group will address a variety of potential sources of contamination in East Buffalo such as household lead sources, Superfund and brownfield sites, and facilities which emit hazardous chemicals. This organization will use the grant funds to develop a two-part program to identify these potential risks.
Groundwork Yonkers - Westchester County
Award: $25,000
Project: LaMartine Community Health and Pollution Prevention - Groundwork Yonkers will evaluate potential exposure of residents in the LaMartine neighborhood of Yonkers to multiple environmental risks from vacant lots, toxic contamination, soot, and other air pollutants. From this, priority issues and intervention strategies will be developed.
Keep Western New York Beautiful - Erie County
Award: $25,000
Project: Sustainable Urban Lots: The Power of Plants - Keep Western New York Beautiful will mitigate environmental harms and risks by introducing phytoremediation techniques into community gardening practices.
None Like You Educational and Community Outreach Program - Erie County
Award: $23,875
Project: WE CARE Community Lot Reclamation - This will be a community demonstration project for environmentally sound vacant lot reclamation in Buffalo, part of a broader initiative from the Buffalo Weed and Seed Program and the Buffalo Office of Strategic Planning to address problem properties on Buffalo's East Side.
The North Shore Waterfront Conservancy of Staten Island, Inc. (NSWC) - Richmond County
Award: $10,000
Project: The Staten Island North Shore Waterfront Communities and Manufacturing Sites Clean Up, Revitalization, and Restoration Project ("North Shore Project") - NSWC will identify manufacturing sites along the North Shore that have negative environmental impacts on the surrounding communities so that sustainable urban planning can be developed for those areas. This project will provide educational tools to promote cleanup of contaminated sites, obtain funding for restoration, and provide information for officials to put into future development policies.
Southwest Area Neighborhood Association, Inc. (SWAN) - Monroe County
Award: $24,998
Project: Reducing Home-based Environmental Health Hazards in Rochester, NY: A Demonstration Project ("Healthy Home") - SWAN will conduct surveys of participants in the Healthy Home education programs to study the most effective means of educating builders, medical professionals and the local community in ways that will improve the environmental health of low-income residences in Rochester.
West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc. (WE ACT) - New York County
Award: $25,000
Project: Rosa Parks School Bus Campaign - This is a research and demonstration project to retrofit a school bus with emissions controls; results will be used for education projects to prevent the exposure of Northern Manhattan children and school bus drivers to health risks associated with the buildup of diesel exhaust fumes inside school bus cabins.
Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, Inc. (YMPJ) - Bronx County
Award: $20,000
Project: Rooftop Wellness Demonstration Project - A living roof for the St. Joan of Arc Church in the Bronx will be created with solar paneling and vegetable and medicinal herb gardens. This project will address some of the environmental and health concerns in the Bronx River and Soundview neighborhoods, which suffer from high asthma rates and other health problems.
