Investing in America Grants at Work

Rep. Steny H. Hoyer met with leaders from YESS! of Charles County and Eagle Harbor town government to discuss how more than $800,000 in federal grants made possible by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is expanding clean water access for rural families in Nanjemoy and cleaning up legacy pollution in Eagle Harbor.

The visits earlier this month were part of the Regional Leadership Council‘s Week of Action, where House Democrats held events to highlight how the Investing in America agenda is transforming communities in every corner of the country.

Both grants were awarded from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving Program. As House majority leader, Congressman Hoyer brought the Inflation Reduction Act, the legislation that funded EJCPS, to the floor and voted to pass it.

When visiting with nonprofit leaders from YESS! of Charles County, Rep. Hoyer heard firsthand how funding he helped secure is being used to implement first steps to installing freshwater wells on residential properties that do not have running water. Nanjemoy is a rural community in the Fifth District that has struggled with access to reliable, clean, running water.

The congressman also went on a driving tour of sites in Nanjemoy that will benefit from the freshwater wells.

While at Eagle Harbor, Congressman Hoyer met with Mayor Noah Waters and team members from Ridge to Reefs who are using EJCPS funding to clean up legacy pollution from a former coal-fired power plant located adjacent to the community.

Eagle Harbor is the last historically African American waterfront community in the entire Chesapeake Bay and these cleanup efforts will help preserve and restore a community that represents a critical piece of Maryland’s history. Congressman Hoyer toured the cleanup site and saw how federal funds are enabling Ridge to Reefs to study soil and water contamination in Eagle Harbor and conduct scientific analysis and testing to inform restoration activities.

“The funds I helped pass in the Inflation Reduction Act are having a major impact on communities in the Fifth District that too often have been overlooked,” Congressman Hoyer (D-MD) said. “I’m grateful that the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America agenda put a particular focus on the need to center equity in our strategic efforts to fight the climate crisis and protect our planet. Partnerships between local government and nonprofits are helping to implement this federal funding.”

“We are honored to be amongst the recipients of EPA’s Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving grant,” said Sharon Groves, founder and executive director of YESS! of Charles County. “This funding will allow us to use an evidence-based, holistic approach to determine the scope of the problem of water scarcity and improper sewage in Phase I and engineer permanent solutions for residents in Nanjemoy in Phase II. This collaborative approach is a brilliant way to solve a problem of this magnitude … and no administration has ever done this before. My team includes the University of North Carolina, the US Water Alliance, Howard University’s Law Clinic, Dig Deep, Engineers Without Borders, Southern Marylanders for Racial Equality, Earth Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency, the president of Charles County’s Medical Society, and we’re still growing. I’ve been waiting on this miracle for 23 years.”

Ms. Groves said the groups are grateful for Congressman Steny Hoyer’s visit to Nanjemoy and for bringing the Inflation Reduction Act to the House floor.

“This legislation will literally save lives and change lives for generations to come,” she said.

“The town of Eagle Harbor is one of the last predominately African American waterfront communities remaining in the United States,” Mayor Waters said. “Its natural beauty and history provide doorways to opportunities yet to be opened. Situated on the shore of Aquasco, Maryland’s fraction of the Patuxent River, where the selling of human cargo supplied the state’s largest slave population, not since Reconstruction has ample federal intervention been used in a way to impact this area. Congressman Hoyer’s partnership in securing this funding from the Biden Administration for Ridge to Reefs’ work is a testament to the congressman’s commitment to service. In helping those whom our nation for far too long put aside as the least of them, Congressman Hoyer and President Biden are helping America.”

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For more information about Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, visit his Leader member page.