Wash. DOE Issues Grants

The state of Washington’s Department of Ecology announced 18 grants that have been issued to groups in the state. The grant money, worth a total of $1.2 million, is designed to start new and innovative programs designed to prevent, reduce and recycle waste.

The new grants are in addition to Coordinated Prevention Grants that are awarded by Ecology every two years to help manage and enforce solid- and hazardous-waste programs at the county and city levels. The money comes from leftover funds that previous grant recipients around the state were not able to use.

The projects will be designed and start this summer, to be completed by spring 2003.

The funds come from a tax paid by wholesale distributors of petroleum and other hazardous materials, under the voter-approved Toxic Cleanup Act of 1989.

Clark County received two grants, one for $33,000 to study electronic waste and develop a recommendation for handling it. The second was $17,750 to develop and maintain a toxic-free garden at a Vancouver-area elementary school for educational and demonstration purposes.

Clallam County received $37,500 to study quantities and types of waste generated countywide. The results will be crucial in planning for the transport system necessary after the Port Angeles landfill is closed in 2006.

Grays Harbor County received $3,100 to establish an educational campaign that will encourage the use of safe alternatives to toxic substances in homes and yards. Demonstration kits will be distributed at the annual county fair in return for an agreement to participate in follow-up surveys.

In King County, the city of Bellevue is getting $185,000 to implement sustainable building concepts at a local greenbelt ranger station; the city of Seattle will use $89,300 for food-composting and environmental-purchasing studies; and King County Solid Waste will receive $89,200 to convert diesel trucks to run on biodiesel fuel derived from waste oil.

Kitsap County received $11,000 to promote a thermometer exchange program that will assist residents wanting to exchange mercury fever thermometers with less toxic alternatives.

In Pierce County, the city of Tacoma received three grants: $114,000 for a mercury-reduction program aimed at homeowners; $18,750 to test a new organics composting facility that will combine food and yard wastes from single-family homes, apartment complexes, florists, restaurants and grocery stores; and $37,500 to promote "green" building practices in Tacoma and with local contractors.

San Juan County will use its grant of $435,985 to construct a re-use and recycling facility in Friday Harbor.

Snohomish County was awarded $88,500 to sponsor collection drives for televisions, computer monitors and other electronic waste. The collected materials will be recycled, and the county will work cooperatively with other agencies to develop more-sustainable procurement and handling procedures for electronic waste.

Thurston County received four grants: $2,150 to develop a student-driven recycling program in a middle school that will reduce the school's waste by one dumpster per week; $11,250 to pay for transferring re-usable building materials that are dropped off at the county's waste-recovery center; $28,000 to control and prevent clopyralid-contaminated compost from being used on plants susceptible to damage (clopyralid is a long-lasting chemical in found in lawn control products); and $17,600 to raise awareness about the dangers of mercury and start a mercury-thermometer exchange program.

Ecology also issued $800,000 in supplemental grants in Eastern and Central Washington.