Southwest Ohio is getting about $1.1 million from the Ohio EPA to fund projects aimed at decreasing litter and increasing recycling efforts and sustainability. That includes illegal dumping prevention, composting and new equipment.
"Statewide, the agency issued more than $6 million in grant funding to 103 recipients with more than $3 million specifically for community and litter prevention grants," said Ohio EPA Media Coordinator Anthony Chenault. "The $1.1 million that Southwest Ohio receives is going to 24 local governments, businesses and nonprofit organizations."
The annual grant money can go toward big ticket items, like nearly $200,000 worth of new equipment at the Rumpke Waste and Recycling facility in Hamilton County, or $30,000 worth of recycling cans at the University of Cincinnati.
"One of the big things is illegal dumping. It has a very negative impact on the environment when people just dump their garbage," Chenault said. "So Keep Cincinnati Beautiful is getting a little more than $10,000 to purchase surveillance cameras to be able to use on illegal dump sites. Some of the other big ticket things that are used are for tire amnesty. Again, a lot of things that get dumped illegally are tires. So tire amnesty programs allow people or businesses to accept tires so they can be recycled properly."
River cleanups are also being funded in Hamilton and Greene counties.
Chenault says the annual grants were just announced for this year. But applications will reopen from Nov. 1 - Feb. 4. Business, nonprofits, municipalities and colleges and universities are eligible to receive the grants.
