Commission Awarded IEPA Green Infrastructure Grant

Stormwater Commission Awarded IEPA Green Infrastructure Grant for Bio-Infiltration Facility


Updated 07/22/2011

Niles - July 21, 2011. Through the efforts of the Stormwater Commission, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) announced that the Village of Niles will be awarded $202,224 for a proposed Green Infrastructure and Stormwater Infiltration Project.

The proposed project was developed during a cursory review of potential project sites that met the goals and objectives of the IEPA grant of reducing nonpoint source pollution. The Stormwater Commission’s goal was to identify a project and site that met the following characteristics:
  1. It could be constructed on village-owned property
  2. It met the needs of the IEPA
  3. It provided some level of stormwater relief
Stormwater Commission Chair Joe LoVerde stated, “We are excited to be the recipients of such a competitive grant. This grant will allow us to implement a stormwater project that will not only reduce water pollution in Niles, but will improve a vacant property in such a way that it will help reduce area flooding and beautify it as well.”

The location of the proposed project is north of the Niles police station and water reservoir on vacant property owned by the village. This location is east of the south end of Neva Avenue, north of Touhy Avenue, and west of Milwaukee Avenue. It is anticipated a project such as this would take six to eight months to complete.

Nonpoint source pollution occurs when runoff from rain and snow melt carries pollutants into waterways such as rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands, and even groundwater. When rain hits the ground and flows across streets, parking lots, yards construction sites, farm fields, and golf courses, it picks up litter, oil, grease, metals, rubber, dirt, fertilizers, pesticides, animal waste, road salt, and other things left behind by people, automobiles, and animals depositing them into waterways and even underground sources of drinking water.