This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Nov. 16, 2010 - WASHINGTON - The earmarks requested in the Senate appropriations bills for fiscal year 2011 by U.S. Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo, include millions of dollars for projects in the St. Louis region, ranging from library renovation to highway exchanges to neonatal incubators. Following are the major earmarks:
- $1 million for the St. Louis Central Library to renovate and preserve the historic building's exterior and provide access for the disabled.
- $1 million to the Great Rivers Greenway for a St. Louis Regional Greenways project to remove blighted industrial sites. The goal is to help spur economic development and expand low and moderate income housing options.
- $588,000 for the Virtual Plant Database at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The funds will continue the expansion of the online plant database for future research and conservation efforts.
- $500,000 for St. Louis Community College to encourage students to enroll in mathematics, engineering, technology and science by exposing them to academic workshops and hands-on robotic challenges and providing teachers with new tools.
- $1 million for oversight, management, travel, and outside support for the Midwest China Hub Commission in St. Louis, which aims to increase exports of Midwestern products and create new jobs by helping bolster trade with China.
- $850,000 for an online "learning campus" for the National Center for Parents as Teachers in St. Louis to help increase the number of certified parent educators, improve professional development, give home visitation professionals timely access to the latest research-based child development resources and materials, and improve curriculum delivery, training and technical assistance.
- $500,000 to buy advanced neonatal incubators for the Newborn Intensive Care Unit at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Such incubators help increase survival prospects for infants born prematurely or with certain life-threatening conditions.
- $1 million to renovate 18 units of housing for low-income working families at the Grace Hill Settlement House for the College Hill Community Redevelopment in St. Louis.
- $1.5 million to the Missouri Department of Transportation to replace the Interstate-64 and 22nd Street interchange in St. Louis. The project aims to make the entry and access to the interstate safer and more efficient.
- A provision to prevent the closure or relocation of the Food and Drug Administration's Division of Pharmaceutical Analysis, which has 28 employees in St. Louis.
Earmarks for water projects with the U.S. Corps of Engineers
- $4.3 million to continue navigation improvements on the Mississippi River between the Ohio and Missouri Rivers, including the construction of dikes, construction dredging, and rock removal.
- $3.9 million to raise the existing levees on the Missouri River and Bonhomme Creek to provide protection from a 500-year flood event along with relief wells, a sheet pile cutoff, and berms to control under seepage.
- $45,000 for the River des Peres project, which aims to eliminate flash flooding and interior flooding to homes and businesses -- an estimated 550 structures in industrial and residential areas.
- $100,000 to correct deficiencies in the St. Louis Flood Protection project -- a floodwall that protects $3 billion of industrial property in the city.
- $2 million for the Meramec River Basin project in Valley Park -- providing erosion protection at the tow of the levee and preventing seepage into the protected area though a railroad embankment.
Earmarks for University of Missouri Columbia projects
- $2 million to research "responsible environmental nanotechnologies" under i-EnviroNano, a collaborative effort with the Army to develop technologies to treat contaminated soil and groundwater.
- $1.2 million for the Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute at Mizzou, Iowa State University, University of Wisconsin, and the University of Arkansas to analyze likely outcomes of policy options for agricultural markets, producers, consumers and taxpayers.
- $690,000 for Mizzou's National Center for Soybean Biotechnology for research to improve the competitiveness of U.S. soybeans by reducing production costs, increasing yield potential and quality, and providing environmental and health benefits.
- $556,000 for Mizzou's Soybean Cyst Nematode project to help develop soybeans that are resistant to the cyst nematode pathogen -- the most serious pest of U.S. soybeans.
- Allowing funds previously appropriated to the National Plant and Genetics Security Center at Mizzou to the construction of the Agroforestry Learning Center and plant physiology research greenhouse.
Source: List of earmark requests on Bond's U.S. Senate website.