TOLEDO, OH – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and U.S. Rep Marcy Kaptur (OH-09) today attended a ribbon cutting of a Recovery Act green infrastructure project designed to reduce stormwater runoff and reduce water rate increases for neighborhood residents. The Toledo project, which created six jobs, will also improve water quality in the city.

“Today represents one of the many things the Recovery Act was designed to do – create jobs and modernize our infrastructure for 21st century development,” Brown said. “The Maywood neighborhood development is an example of how the Recovery Act is putting Ohioans to work and empowering this neighborhood. It’s coordinating every level of the community – from workers and students to city officials and businesses. And it’s a pilot project that can become a national model in how to reduce utility costs for homeowners and cities, and promote greener, more sustainable neighborhoods.”

Brown also discussed Ohio’s success under the Recovery Act. Ohio leads the nation in the number of ARRA construction starts with over 200 projects and ranks top in the nation for most “green” projects funded by the Recovery Act. Ohio also leads the nation for funding the most ARRA water pollution control projects. 

As reported by the State of Ohio, Recovery Act funding will support more than 274 water pollution projects for construction of a wide variety of projects to protect or improve the quality of Ohio's rivers, streams, lakes, and other water resources for approximately 5.6 million Ohioans in 187 communities.

 

Senator Brown fought hard for water improvement funding to be included in the Recovery Act.  Upon passage of the bill, Brown convened local officials to discuss the funding opportunities for water and infrastructure improvement projects.  The Maywood Avenue project is a neighborhood scale project that utilizes Low Impact Development (LID), or green infrastructure, to reduce stormwater runoff and improve water quality. The City of Toledo’s Division of Environmental Services oversaw the project.


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