Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, which oversees the condition and care of Western New York’s waterways, including the Niagara River in the Town of Tonawanda, recently received some state funding.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation recently awarded 24 Environmental Justice Community Impact Grants to organizations across the state that serve communities facing environmental harm and risk, according to DEC Commissioner Joe Martens. Riverkeeper was among those organizations receiving a grant.

“The Department of Environmental Conservation will be providing much-needed funding to two dozen outstanding organizations and projects throughout New York that will provide benefits to environmental justice communities far beyond the value of the grants,” said Martens.

Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper was given $50,000 for the “Environmental Justice Education and Citizen Action for Buffalo and Niagara Rivers Project.”

Riverkeeper is a community-focused, science based advocacy organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the quality and quantity of the area’s most valuable natural resource — water, said Kerri Bentkowski Li, director of the organization’s Citizen Action Program.

She added that the group is committed to improving the legacy it leaves for future generations. Its goal is for everyone to have access to fishable, swimmable and drinkable water throughout the Buffalo Niagara region.

“Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper is excited to garner competitive funding resources within Western New York that expand our capacity to deliver environmental justice programming to the citizens of our region,” said Bentkowski Li.

The DEC Environmental Justice Grant supports three community programs that engage residents in improving the environment in the Buffalo Niagara region, said Bentkowski Li.

The three programs include: River Academy, an environmental justice education program in partnership with Erie Community College; River Watch Water Quality Monitoring Program, which monitors water near public access sites; and a risk communication project about fish consumption health advisories in low income and minority communities.

Residents who would like to volunteer or participate in any of these programs should visit www.bnriverkeeper.org or email info@bnriverkeeper.org for more information.

The Environmental Justice Grants Program, created with input from the DEC Environmental Justice Advisory Group, helps communities understand and mitigate environmental harms or risks to improve quality of life.

The funding comes from the Environmental Justice Community Impact Research Grant program.

Launched in 2006, the program helps local organizations with projects to address environmental or public health concerns. The program concentrates on communities that historically have been overburdened by such problems as a high density of industrial emissions; a concentration of contaminated sites; disproportionate noise, air and water pollution; environmental health problems; and lack of green space and waterfront access.

This year, 123 groups from around the state applied for funding. Detailed reviews by DEC staff resulted in 24 grant awards totaling $1 million.

Individual awards range from $5,180 to $50,000. A variety of projects will be supported this year, including community gardens and green infrastructure; air and water quality monitoring; waste recycling in public housing; lead poisoning prevention; building deconstruction; and expansion of an urban aquaponics facility and environmental education for urban and Native American youth.