[ADEQ Media] ADEQ Director Owens Awards $5, 000 to City of Peoria for K-8th Grade Program on Water Pollution Prevention

[media@lists.azdeq.gov]

ADEQ Director Owens Awards $5,000 to City of Peoria for K-8th Grade
Program on Water Pollution Prevention

PHOENIX (July 1, 2008) - Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
Director Steve Owens announced today that the City of Peoria will
receive a $5,000 grant to teach children in kindergarten through eighth
grades about how to prevent stormwater pollution in their neighborhoods.

"Children are very concerned about protecting the environment, and they
really want to know what they can do to help," Director Owens said.
"These funds will help teach kids what they can do themselves to protect
water resources in the Peoria area, and we also hope they will get their
parents involved in the effort too. This is a great project."

The grant will fund a program to reach an estimated 2,000 students in
local public and charter schools, as well as the City of Peoria
Recreation Department's before- and after-school program and summer
recreation program.  Students will be taught the importance of
identifying potential pollutants, the harm pollutants do to the
environment, and alternatives to protect the environment. The City hopes
that students will take what they learn home to their families.

The program will include a hands-on, interactive model that Peoria's
Stormwater Operation Section staff will use to demonstrate what
stormwater is and how pollutants get into the water. 

The program also will include an activity book about local parks,
retention basins, and watercourses, including the Arizona Canal
Diversion Channel/Skunk Creek, New River, the Agua Fria River, and Lake
Pleasant.  

The city will develop one presentation for grades K-3 and another for
grades 4-8. 

The grant is funded with federal dollars provided to ADEQ under the
Clean Water Act. 

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News media interested in additional information on this or any other
topic concerning the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality should
contact the Office of Communications at (602) 771-2215 or via email at
communications@azdeq.gov.

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