USDA OFFICIALS ANNOUNCE RURAL WATER IMPROVEMENT

                                              Release No. 0126.97

                                     Jim Petterson (202) 720-4623

ON EARTH DAY, ROMINGER GIVES FUNDS FOR CHELSEA CREEK CLEAN UP
OTHER USDA OFFICIALS ANNOUNCE RURAL WATER IMPROVEMENT

     BOSTON, April 22, 1997--As part of the Clinton Administration's
celebration of Earth Day, Deputy Agriculture Secretary Richard Rominger
today awarded a $200,000 grant to a Boston group to help fund environmental
projects -- including the restoration of Chelsea Creek, the most polluted
tributary of Boston Harbor and the second most polluted river in
Massachusetts.

     On the steps of historic Faneuil Hall, Rominger presented a check to
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino for the Boston Urban Resources Partnership to
help continue their efforts to clean up the creek and announced that the
city of Boston has been added to the Urban Resources Partnership program.

      "Protecting and improving natural resources like water is what Earth
Day is all about.  We must continue to maintain our aquifers for drinking,
and our rivers and lakes for wildlife and recreation," Rominger said. "And,
we must continue to protect and improve our environmental resources in urban
areas, like Boston. That's what we're able to accomplish with the Urban
Resources Partnership."

     On Earth Day, 21 community URP events are scheduled in the eight URP
cities (Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, East St. Louis, Los Angeles, New York,
Philadelphia and Seattle).  In Denver, USDA Under Secretary for Natural
Resources and Environment James R. Lyons will join volunteers working to
protect trees along the Platte River.  Events at other URP sites include
stream clean ups, tree plantings, landscaping, and fish derbies.

     Rominger said the theme of this year's Earth Day is community service
and volunteerism.  He applauded all the volunteers and youth corp
participants in Boston and Denver and in the other URP cities who are
spending time today and throughout the year making their communities better
places to live.

     Seven federal agencies participate in the Urban Resources Partnership
program that brings together local and state governments, community
organizations, and private and non-profit organizations in an effort to
protect, improve and rehabilitate critical urban environments.  The various
partnerships have turned vacant land into community gardens, restored
wetlands and employed youth in natural resource fields. The federal
government provides limited dollars (USDA has committed more than $14
million over the last three years) with technical assistance.  The federal
agencies involved in this initiative are: USDA's Cooperative State Research,
Education, and Extension Service, the Forest Service, and the Natural
Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Department of Interior's Fish and
Wildlife Service and Park Service and the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development.

     With the funds announced today, the Boston Urban Resources Partnership
will conduct a resident-led mapping and assessment of environmental problems
surrounding the creek.  They will train youth teams to conduct water tests
and shore line surveys.  Working with residents, schools and community
groups, they will devise multi-cultural methods to educate Chelsea and East
Boston residents about the creek's environmental problems.

     Elsewhere around the country as part of USDA's celebration of Earth
Day, 14 USDA officials announced grants and loans to help rural communities
improve their water supplies. USDA is investing $68 million for 43
communities in 30 states to build, improve, or expand public drinking water
and sewer systems.
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