Owen County is the
recipient of $100,000 in Kentucky Pride Fund monies.
Gov. Ernie Fletcher announced last week that the community will
receive the grant to help clean up an illegal dump on Old Landing
Road near Monterey.
Owen County Judge-Executive Billy O’Banion said work would
begin in the next few weeks and would be handled by the county
road department.
Owen’s funds were among more than $2.8 million in grants
distributed in 56 counties to clean up 475 illegal dumps.
Senate Bill 50, passed by the 2006 General Assembly and effective
on July 12, converted the illegal open dump reimbursement program
to a grant program.
Significant progress has been made in addressing the illegal
dump issue, due in large part to a statewide cleanup and an
education campaign by local, state and federal agencies, said
R. Bruce Scott, director of the EPPC Division of Waste Management,
which administers the fund.
State funding for the illegal open-dump grant program is from
a $1.75 environmental remediation fee for each ton of garbage
disposed of at Kentucky municipal solid waste disposal facilities.
The “tipping fee,” authorized by the 2002 General
Assembly under House Bill 174, is collected quarterly and placed
in the Kentucky Pride Fund to help combat illegal dumping and
finance the closure of old landfills. The Pride Fund is the
first legislated and ongoing source of state funding for this
work. Illegal open-dump cleanup has been a continuing project
in Kentucky for several years, primarily using county and federal
money.
Senate Bill 50 also expanded the scope of the Kentucky Pride
Fund to address household hazardous waste collection and recycling
infrastructure.
County clerk gets Records grant
In an unrelated announcement last week, Owen County Clerk Mary
Kay Duncan received a $5,945 Local Records grant from the Department
for Libraries and Archives. The funds will be used to provide
roller shelving for the clerk’s office.
The office was among 41 local public agencies that were awarded
$430,000 in funds from the program.
