Six groups are sharing $250,000 in funding for innovative proposals to extract phosphorus from soils as Vermont tries to reduce the polluted runoff that leads to toxic algae blooms in Lake Champlain.
Republican Gov. Phil Scott and administration officials announced the winners of Vermont's Phosphorus Innovation Challenge Friday.
Among them, Green Mountain Biochar in Barton was awarded $30,000 to develop biochar from local organic waste that can be used to absorb phosphorus in soils while producing a soil fertilizer. The village of Essex Junction, Chittenden County Solid Waste District and University of Vermont won a $45,000 grant to use a pipe descaling technology to remove phosphorus in wastewater applications.
The projects will take about a year to develop.
The EPA has mandated that Vermont reduce phosphorus runoff into the lake.
