This grant agreement provide funding to county of erie to fund a project to reduce the risk of swimmers contracting disease or infection from polluted waters by implementing a program of beach…

This federal Project Grant award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Beach Monitoring and Notification Program Implementation Grants (CFDA 66.472) provides $235,000 to the County of Erie, Pennsylvania to fund a project to monitor water quality and notify the public at Presque Isle State Park and Freeport Beach.

The key products and services under this grant include: 1) Weekly beach water quality monitoring and twice-weekly water sample collection and analysis, 2) Posting of swimming advisories and restrictions on the county's public website and through physical signage at the beaches, and 3) Providing water quality monitoring and notification data to the EPA. The county is subawardng a portion of the grant to the Regional Science Consortium to assist with water sample collection, analysis, and signage maintenance. The overarching goal of this grant-funded project is to reduce the risk of swimmers contracting disease or infection from polluted waters at these public beaches.

This grant agreement provide funding to county of erie to fund a project to reduce the risk of swimmers contracting disease or infection from polluted waters by implementing a program of beach monitoring at erie county's public permitted beaches. This project includes a component for public notification and risk communication, including a website where monitoring and notification data are posted (https://eriecountypa.GOV/departments/health/services-and-programs/health-and-wellness/beach-water-testing-results/).activities:with funding from this grant, erie county department of health (ecdh) plans to conduct weekly beach monitoring at freeport beach and twice weekly at presque isle state park. Additionally, the recipient will analyze the water samples, post advisories and restrictions on their public map hosted on the ecdh website for public notification purposes, and post physical signage to inform the public about any water that doesn't meet appropriate water quality standards.subrecipient:subaward will be given to regional science consortium to conduct water sample collection and analysis and maintain the notification signage.outcomes:outputs for this grant include monitoring the water quality of all active, permitted public beaches at presque isle state park and freeport beach from late may through labor day, analyzing the water samples collected twice per week, and providing notification of swimming advisories and restrictions. Outcomes include informing the public of current water quality at permitted coastal beaches, providing U.S. Environmental protection agency with monitoring and notification information, improving the public health of residents and visitors who use the recreational waters, and enhancing and developing predictive models for beaches on presque isle state park. Beneficiaries will include the local residents and all visitors of erie county beaches.