Situated in southeast Pennsylvania along the tidal Delaware River, Chester, Pennsylvania is an economically distressed community vulnerable to tidal and riverine flooding, which are both intensified by stormwater runoff. Previous work led by Pennsylvania Sea Grant found that storm floods have the potential to damage the City’s coastal water resources, transportation, energy generation, and human health.

In 2017, Pennsylvania Sea Grant led development of the Chester Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) Plan. The plan describes GSI benefits, common techniques, and implementation strategies including a list of potential GSI sites in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Stormwater Authority of Chester uses the plan to integrate GSI techniques into existing infrastructure for improved water quality in the city and in the Delaware River. In early 2018, the Stormwater Authority of Chester applied for and received a $5 million loan from Pennsylvania’s infrastructure investment authority to construct five GSI projects.

Millcreek Township is the 14th largest municipality in Pennsylvania with about 53,000 residents. To keep up with increased development demand, newly constructed developments included parking areas that were often 100 percent nonporous and without vegetation.

Pennsylvania Sea Grant worked with the township to improve water quality and community aesthetics by developing model regulations that require a level of green stormwater infrastructure, including the planting of trees and partially vegetated areas around parking lots. In 2016, Millcreek adopted Pennsylvania Sea Grant's recommendations requiring all new land developments to incorporate a minimum of 7 percent planted green infrastructure into new parking areas. In 2017, four new commercial developments installed green infrastructure based on these regulations.

Pennsylvania Sea Grant presented information about plastics and marine debris for students and teachers in grades at Iroquois Elementary School in Erie, Pennsylvania. Single-use plastic bags are one of the top items collected during freshwater and marine cleanups. Once in the environment, they can impact wildlife health, water quality, and shoreline aesthetics.

After learning about plastic pollution and its impacts, Iroquois Elementary School students decided to research their community’s use of plastic grocery bags and recycling options. After concluding that lack of curbside pickup makes it difficult for people to recycle, the students developed a service project to reduce the number of single-use plastic bags that end up in the environment, created receptacles at school, and started a recycling competition. Within two months, students had collected 68,000 bags, which were then converted into a park bench. The students' efforts were rewarded with the Pennsylvania Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence.