ANNAPOLIS, MD (October 9, 1997) -- A project to plan, design and construct restoration measures in the Hunting Creek drainage area located behind the Calvert County Memorial Hospital, will receive a financial boost thanks to State assistance.

Governor Parris N. Glendening yesterday announced Board of Public Works approval of an initial $25,000 grant for a restoration project that will correct the erosion and sediment pollution occurring in the Hunting Creek drainage area. Hunting Creek, which is the largest watershed in Calvert County, is an anadromous fish spawning stream, a staging area for waterfowl, and home to a great blue heron rookery. Concerned citizens in the Hunting Creek Watershed Task Force and students in the CHESPAX Environmental Education Program have recognized the area behind Calvert Memorial Hospital as the worst chronic sediment pollution problem in the watershed.

Chaired by the Governor, the Board of Public Works also is comprised of Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein and Treasurer Richard N. Dixon. The board is empowered by the General Assembly to approve construction and consultant contracts, equipment purchases, property transactions and other procurement actions.

"This project will restore and enhance the water quality and aquatic habitat in the Hunting Creek watershed," said Governor Glendening. "By controlling the sediment in the watershed, the Patuxent River and the Chesapeake Bay will continue to flourish."

In addition to this grant, the project will receive $37,000 from the County for a total project cost of $62,000. Construction will begin in April 1998 and will be complete in July 1998.

"Environmental restoration of this area will do much to improve water quality in Hunting Creek, the Patuxent River and the Chesapeake Bay," said County Commissioner Board President Hagner R. Mister. On behalf of the Board of County Commissioners, I would like to thank the Hunting Creek Watershed Task Force, CHESPAX, Calvert Memorial Hospital, the Calvert Soil Conservation Service and the State of Maryland for their concern and cooperation in this environmental restoration project."

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