From funding smart meters on college campuses to reducing hazardous chemicals in high school laboratories, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making its pollution prevention grants count across New Jersey and New York. EPA has awarded more than $600,000 in grants to fund projects that help prevent pollution.
EPA awarded the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute at the Rochester Institute of Technology a $69,000 grant to promote wet cleaning in dry cleaners throughout the state.
Traditional dry cleaning uses an environmentally hazardous solvent, while wet cleaning uses water-based biodegradable detergents. The New York State Pollution Prevention Institute will select two dry cleaners as case studies and will provide technical assistance and funding to defray equipment costs for converting to wet cleaning. Information will be shared with other dry cleaning businesses.
EPA is providing the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation $180,000 to train college students to work as interns in pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities conducting pollution prevention assessments of their operations.
The goals will be to achieve measurable reductions in energy and water use, minimize contaminants present in wastewater discharges and reduce operational costs.
Rowan University will use a $106,194 EPA grant to assist the pharmaceutical industry in implementing source reduction, pollution prevention and green engineering design through an engineering clinic program. In these clinics, Rowan professors and students will demonstrate to industry representatives how they can reduce energy consumption, water consumption, hazardous material releases and save money in manufacturing processes.
These grants are part of the approximately $4 million in grants EPA awards each year aimed at preventing pollution across the nation.
Source: EPA
