FROSTBURG, Md. (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is helping convert old coal-mining land in western Maryland into greenhouses to grow food for Frostburg State University students.
The EPA and the environmental group American Rivers planned to announce the $300,000 grant Thursday on the university campus.
It's one of six projects in the Potomac Highlands region receiving grants totaling nearly $1.4 million. The region includes Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
The five-acre greenhouse project is a joint effort by the school, the state and the Western Maryland Resource Conservation and Development Council.
The council says one acre of greenhouses would produce 20 percent of the produce used in the Frostburg State dining hall.
The council says it aims to build the complex using fly ash, a byproduct of coal-burning power plants.
