Press Release
Contact: Marty Skahen
Office Phone: (315) 435-3516 Cell Phone: (315) 753-1048
For Immediate Release:
April 25, 2011
Onondaga County Receives $712,000 State Grant for Save the Rain Program
New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation announces Green Innovation Grant for War Memorial Water Reuse Project
On Monday, Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney was notified that the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) had selected a Save the Rain project to receive a $712,500 grant through its Green Innovation Grant Program (GIGP). The grants are awarded for environmentally innovative green projects.
Onondaga County applied in October for the grant to use towards the cost of capturing and reusing storm water at the War Memorial Auditorium, including for making ice for the Syracuse Crunch games in the arena. It is estimated that this will reduce annual consumption at the facility by approximately 366,000 gallons.
“We are very pleased that EFC has recognized the innovation we are using in our Save the Rain program”, said Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney. “We have an aggressive plan this year to implement 50 green projects that assist our cleanup efforts for Onondaga Lake. The War Memorial water capture initiative is one of the premier projects and this grant is a tremendous help in achieving our goals.”
The “Save the Rain” program includes construction of traditional gray infrastructure projects and the development of innovative green infrastructure projects that will reduce the effects of storm water pollution to Onondaga Lake and its tributaries. The 2011 season features the launch of several gray projects, as well as the “Project 50” campaign to construct 50 distinct green infrastructure projects over the course of the year. Last week US EPA recognized Syracuse and Onondaga County as a Green Infrastructure Community Partner.
By reducing the amount of storm water going into the sewers through these “green” technologies, the County hopes to reduce the need for and cost of any future “gray” facilities, while still minimizing the number of Combined Sewer Overflows.
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