SIDNEY — The city of Sidney and Sidney-Shelby County Health Department received grant funds from Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for mosquito control Wednesday, May 18.
According to a press release from the Ohio EPA, along with Sidney and the health department, 46 other local health departments and municipalities in 42 counties are sharing $813,610 in grant funding for mosquito control activities. This includes $143,000 to remove scrap tires, which can become breeding grounds for mosquito larvae. The funding will help mitigate the spread of mosquito-borne viruses such as Zika, West Nile and La Cross Encephalitis.
The city of Sidney was granted $22,000, and the Sidney-Shelby County Health Department is receiving $10,020.
“The Mosquito Control Grant program has been a major success and is a collaborative effort among state and local agencies,” Ohio EPA Director Laurie A. Stevenson said in the release. “Ohio EPA is pleased to continue offering funding for mosquito control measures to help communities reduce the risks of mosquito-borne viruses and cleaning up scrap tires that can become mosquito breeding grounds.”
“The city (of Sidney) is grateful to receive this funding provided by the Ohio EPA. With rising costs across the board, this grant money will help us continue to fund and execute an effective mosquito abatement program,” said Brian Green, Sidney street superintendent, who accepted the grant on behalf of the city of Sidney.
In Southwest Ohio, the release said, the Butler County General Health District is receiving $10,000; Cincinnati Health Department is receiving $11,310; Clark County Combined Health District is receiving $20,060; Clermont County Public Health is receiving $9,240; Darke County is receiving $25,000; village of DeGraff is receiving $1,700; Public Health – Dayton & Montgomery County is receiving $10,000; city of Sidney is receiving $22,000; Sidney-Shelby County Health Department is receiving $10,020; and Warren County Health Department is receiving $13,300.
Kent Topp, director of environmental health with the Shelby County Health Department said, ”We received this funding from the OEPA as part of the 2022 Mosquito Control Grant program. The award amount was for $10,017 to be used for Mosquito Community Outreach/Education and Larval Control. These efforts are to lower the mosquito population and decrease potential of mosquito-borne viruses.”
The full list of grant recipients and the amount of each grant are available at https://epa.ohio.gov/static/Portals/47/nr/22-23MCG.pdf.
Mosquito control grants specifically target: mosquito surveillance; larval control; adult mosquito control, such as spraying where mosquito presence poses a risk to public health; community outreach; and breeding source reduction, including trash or tire removal.
Grants are being issued in collaboration with the Ohio Department of Health’s larger effort to mitigate the potential for an outbreak of mosquito-borne viruses. Over the last six years, Ohio EPA and the Ohio Department of Health have awarded $6.7 million to local health departments and communities for mosquito control programs.
