Fifteen communities in Allegheny County are set to receive funding to tackle climate change and its impact on flooding.
The Allegheny County Health Department has been granted nearly $1 million from a program by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This funding targets communities facing pollution challenges. Under the Biden administration, the EPA awarded this grant as part of a nationwide initiative, partially funded by the Inflation Reduction Act.
According to experts, climate change will lead to warmer and wetter weather in Pennsylvania. The state’s Department of Environmental Protection forecasts a 36% increase in days with heavy rainfall by mid-century, which will likely result in more flooding.
Stephen Strotmeyer, an epidemiologist with the Health Department, mentioned that this three-year grant will help develop climate plans for municipalities in the Mon Valley.
Students from the University of Pittsburgh are collaborating with Braddock, Homestead, Wilkinsburg, and Wilmerding to create projects. The local organization Landforce will put these projects into action. One planned project includes installing a rainwater capture system in flood-prone Wilkinsburg.
“This green stormwater project will help manage flooding by slowing down and collecting water flow,” Strotmeyer explained.
Other initiatives involve debris cleanup in Wilmerding and North Braddock. Strotmeyer noted, “There are areas with everything from tires to illegal dump sites, which block drainage. Cleaning these areas allows water to flow more freely.”
Some of these projects could be finished by this summer.
For more details, check out The Allegheny Front.
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