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Eastern Market Report
Nine Mile Watershed Restoration Receives Grant
A $100,000 Growing Greener grant has been awarded to the Urban Redevelopment
Authority for restoration work in the Nine Mile Watershed that will help to
stabilize parts of a trail and revegetate the slag pile below the Summerset
at Frick Park Development in Pittsburgh, a brownfield site.
The $100,000 grant was among $5.5 million awarded by the Pennsylvania DEP on
November 4 to help local conservation organizations finance continuing efforts
to clean up watersheds, enhance environmental protection and revitalize communities
across Pennsylvania. That statewide total is significantly less than previous
years. Many watershed groups were turned down or had their grants substantially
reduced because Governor Edward G. Rendell’s $800 million bond initiative
to expand and enhance Growing Greener has not been passed by the legislature.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority will work with the Nine Mile Run Watershed
Association and the Summerset Land Development Associates to replant the hill
of slag located below the Crescent Park in the Summerset Development with native
plants and grasses. Plantings will also be placed along the old Jeep Trail near
Nine Mile Run. The trail is to be developed later as a running and walking trail
along the valley floor.
When completed, the project will decrease non-point source pollution associated
with stream bank and hillside erosion and will improve the quality of the water
in Nine Mile Run.