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EPA Awards $356,000 Grant to City of Springfield for Water and Fish Monitoring

Release Date: 01/04/2001
Contact Information: Peyton Fleming, EPA Press Office (617-918-1008)

BOSTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's New England Office today announced the award of a $356,263 grant to the City of Springfield for a water quality and fish sampling initiative at more than a dozen of the city's primary freshwater lakes and streams. The sampling program, which will begin later this year, will measure pesticides, mercury, PCBs and other pollutants in water bodies, sediments and fish. Environmental information from the sampling effort will be made available in four languages - Vietnamese, Russian, Spanish and English. The sampling project, which will be managed through the city's Planning Department, will also help determine how much pollution is entering city water bodies through storm drains.

Testing will take place in13 freshwater ponds and lakes, including the popular fishing spot Watershops Pond (Lake Massasoit), which is used by subsistence fisherman, as well as Lake Lorraine and Five Mile Pond.

"Given the popularity of these ponds for subsistence fishing, it is critical that we learn more about the health of the fish and water," said Mindy S. Lubber, regional administrator of EPA's New England Office. "By providing timely and understandable information in four languages, all residents using these resources will better understand the environmental conditions of these water bodies and the safety of eating the fish."

"Springfield's lakes, ponds and streams make up one of our city's greatest assets. It is important to our revitalization as a thriving regional city that we protect these waters from pollution and that we protect our residents from exposure to polluted waters," added Springfield Mayor Michael J. Albano. "This EPA grant will allow us to address both issues at once. In the end, this project will highlight Springfield's commitment to sustainability by addressing the economy, the community and the environment as a whole."

"The City of Springfield and the EPA are at the forefront of the all-important effort to clean up contaminated water sources and restore them to safe and productive uses for the future," added U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy. "I commend the city and the EPA for their leadership on this worthwhile initiative."

"This grant will allow all of Springfield to be a part of the effort to study and learn about its freshwater lakes and streams," added U.S. Senator John F. Kerry. "I can think of no better way to educate, excite, and remind citizens about their relationship with our world."

The remaining water bodies slated for regular testing include: Long Pond, Dimmock Pond, Mona Lake, Loon Pond, Venture Pond, Bass Pond, Breckwood Pond, Island Pond, Porter Lake and Van Horn Reservoir. Citizens will be trained to take water samples and fish tissue samples that can be used for testing. They will also be trained in how to interpret the results. Monitoring data should be available to the public through a local web site in 2001.

Information obtained from this sampling project will give residents a better understanding about the quality of waters they use for recreation and help the city in better protecting those that are pristine and to clean up those that are polluted.

In addition to the city, partners in this project include: the University of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, the Springfield Vietnamese American Civic Association and the New North Citizens Council.

The grant is being funded from EPA's EMPACT (Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking) program, a four-year-old initiative aimed at providing local communities with timely, understandable and useful information about local environmental conditions through the use of state-of-the-art environmental monitoring and information technologies. EPA has invested more than $5 million in 17 EMPACT projects across New England since the program began.