Application deadline: January 27, 2025 at 5:00 p.m.
Contamination of the Quinnipiac River was once so great that it prompted the first pollution control measure in Connecticut and the eventual creation of the first sewage treatment plant in the State. It was also the subject of a lawsuit against the Upjohn Company concerning wastewater discharges from Upjohn's plant in North Haven. The lawsuit resulted in a settlement in 1990 that created the Quinnipiac River Fund at The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, making the River the first in the state of Connecticut to have an endowment at a community foundation that generates income to protect it and its surrounding environment.
Grants to Study and Improve the River
The mission of the Quinnipiac River Fund is to improve the environmental quality of the Quinnipiac River and New Haven Harbor and their watersheds. The committee considers projects for grant funding that work toward this goal. Examples include:
- Studying the pollution of the waterbodies.
- Studying the ecology of the waterbodies.
- Researching methods of reducing pollution, or otherwise improving the environmental health of the waterbodies.
- Addressing means of reducing both non-point and point sources of pollution to the waterbodies.
- Researching the permitting process, researching particular permits, and making recommendations as to findings.
- Providing public education about the waterbodies.
- Purchasing land in the watersheds for conservation, pollution reduction, and/or improving public access.
- Environmental advocacy (note: funding cannot be used for litigation).
- Habitat restoration.
- Removing tree limbs and other debris that block the passage on the river of canoes and kayaks.
Note: Projects involving the education of schoolchildren will be considered for grant funding only if they contribute to improving the environmental quality of the Quinnipiac River and its watershed.
About the Fund
The Quinnipiac River Fund was established in 1990 as part of a court settlement between the Connecticut Fund for the Environment, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Upjohn Company, concerning wastewater discharges from the Upjohn Company's plant in North Haven. Each year the Fund distributes more than $100,000 to organizations that work toward improving the environmental quality of the Quinnipiac River, New Haven Harbor and the surrounding watersheds.
