MSU receives ten-million dollar grant in “The Mountains and Plains Thriving Communities Collaborative”

On Jan. 19, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials announced that MSU will receive a ten-million dollar grant to combat environmental issues within EPA Region 8. According to the EPA, Region 8 consists of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota and Utah, as well as 28 Tribal Nations. 

The grant money is meant to benefit not only MSU, but all areas within Region 8, and land-grant schools in particular. “They selected MSU based on its ability to provide technical assistance related to energy justice as well as environmental justice in its work-plan,” said an EPA news release from Jan. 22, by Public Affairs Specialist Valerie Doornbo.

“The reviewers appreciated the partnership approach we brought to the program, and our knowledge of and connections with remote, rural and tribal communities,” Associate Professor of Earth Sciences Julia Haggerty said.

Haggerty said the purpose of the grant is “to bolster the capacity of groups and individuals in Region 8 to solve local environmental and energy challenges, particularly in the case of underserved communities and places that have excessive environmental burdens or have experienced environmental racism.”

Coined in 1982 by author and activist Dr. Benjamin Chavis Jr., the term “environmental racism” refers to the historically disproportionate effect of toxic waste and waste-producing sites on ethnic and racial minority communities. 

Environmental racism has historically been an issue in Montana. For example, Kimberly Paul wrote her 2015 University of Montana graduate thesis on U.S. government agencies proposing to dump millions of gallons of toxic waste on Blackfeet land in 1961. Despite the Blackfeet Business Council denying the proposal “it is believed that there could have been some exploratory dumping,” according to Paul.

The grant project aims to “establish and operate an Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center (EJ TCTAC) with a physical location and virtual presence in the region,” according to the EPA press release.

According to Haggerty, the EJ TCTAC will act as a sort of headquarters for the project at large and will provide internships and other opportunities for students to participate. 

Beyond building the EJ TCTAC, “funds will hire staff, pay for travel and support the use of digital tools, websites, etc.,” Haggerty said.

The project will also provide technical assistance and the opportunity for people to engage in decision-making regarding energy and environmental justice. 

This technical assistance will take the form of programs and support systems that promote grant opportunity awareness and information regarding grant applications and management, according to Haggerty.

“There are multiple centers that direct research and engagement to community priorities in Montana,” Haggerty said when asked what MSU is already doing that falls under the requirements of the grant. 

Among those centers are MSU Extension’s Community Vitality program, the Center for American Indian and Rural Health Equity and the Montana Water Center, each of which played crucial roles in developing the grant proposal, she said.

According to Haggerty, the Mountains and Plains Thriving Communities Collaborative grant funding is set to become available to the university around April 1.