Governor Andy Beshear and Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Goodman announced Wednesday approximately $924,600 in grants for the cleanup of 69 illegal dumps in 16 counties across the commonwealth.
The following counties received grants: Breathitt, Butler, Clay, Floyd, Green, Harlan, Knott, Lawrence, Lyon, Marion, Martin, McLean, Meade, Pike, Warren and Wolfe.
Governor Beshear said Kentucky families deserve for their communities to be clean and safe. Illegal dump sites can affect Kentuckians’ quality of life and property values through no fault of their own.
As part of the grant funding, counties must agree to provide a 25 percent match of the grant amount.
The Energy and Environment Cabinet may waive the 25 percent match on any individual illegal open dump where cleanup costs exceed $50,000.
Goodman said this grant has funded the cleanup for close to 2,800 dump sites across the state since its creation in 2006.
Grants for the Illegal Open Dump Grant Program comes from the Kentucky Pride Fund, which is generated through a $1.75 environmental remediation fee for each ton of garbage dumped at Kentucky municipal solid waste landfills.
This “tipping fee” was first authorized by the 2002 General Assembly under House Bill 174, for use in a dump cleanup reimbursement program, and for the remediation of historic landfills.
In 2006, Senate Bill 50 changed the reimbursement program to a grant program and expanded the scope of the fund to address household hazardous waste collection and recycling infrastructure.
Kentucky has made significant progress in addressing the illegal dump issue thanks to this funding, along with statewide cleanup and educational campaigns by local, state and federal agencies.
Source: WBKO
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