BOEMRE Awards $1.6 Million for Alabama Projects Grants
Will Fund Mobile County Wastewater Treatment Facility and Habitat
Restoration
NEW ORLEANS – The Bureau of
Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today
announced that it has awarded two Coastal Impact Assistance Program
(CIAP) grants totaling $1.6 million to Mobile County, Ala., and the
state of Alabama for projects to construct a North Mobile County
wastewater treatment and disposal facility and to develop a wildlife
and plant habitat restoration strategy for coastal areas in the
state.
Created
by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, CIAP provides
funding to the six Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas
producing states to conserve and protect the coastal environment. CIAP
is an ongoing program with grant funding that is allocated based on
the offshore energy revenues collected by the United States.
“BOEMRE
continues to support vital infrastructure and restoration efforts
that will benefit Alabama and its coastal counties. These projects
are part of that effort,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich.
“CIAP grants provide the opportunity for us to fund critical
conservation and wetlands preservation initiatives that will help
preserve these ecosystems for future generations.”
A $1,500,000 grant to Mobile County
will fund construction of a pre-engineered wastewater treatment and
disposal facility and conveyance infrastructure located
approximately 20 miles north of Mobile, in Mount Vernon. The new
facility is initially expected to eliminate the need for 55 separate
treatment systems that currently exist in the county.
A $100,000 grant to the state of
Alabama will help to develop a comprehensive inventory of potential
habitat restoration projects that can be implemented in the coastal
Alabama counties of Mobile and Baldwin. This inventory will be used
to determine the feasibility of a number of wetlands projects that
can be undertaken in the future, including projects to restore
wildlife and plant communities that have been adversely affected by
natural forces and human activities.
CIAP received $250 million in
appropriated funds for each of the Fiscal Years 2007-2010, to be
disbursed to six eligible OCS oil and gas producing states: Alabama,
Alaska, California, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
Contact: BOEMRE
Public Affairs-Gulf