CLEVELAND, May 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Biodiversity Alliance, a partnership for global conservation, and Dominion are now accepting applications for the third annual Northeast Ohio Environmental Awards, a program recognizing excellence in advancing regional environmental quality. Biodiversity Alliance is a collaborative including the Cleveland Botanical Garden, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo/Cleveland Zoological Society, The Cleveland Museum of Natural History and The Holden Arboretum. The Dominion Foundation funds the awards. All nominations must be received no later than midnight, Tuesday June 30, 2009.

The program recognizes outstanding achievements of organizations, businesses and individuals in a wide variety of environmental initiatives throughout the region. The awards also honor those that have demonstrated a commitment to environmental excellence, leadership and accomplishment in their respective fields. The program will offer awards recognizing activities or initiatives that were in place in 2008 in the following categories:

• Community
• Higher Education
• Primary/Secondary Education
• Business

Winners in each category will receive a $2,500 cash award. A panel of independent judges will evaluate all entries.

"Each year a growing number of innovative conservation initiatives are being carried out in Northeast Ohio," says Cathi Lehn, Ph.D, conservation program coordinator of Biodiversity Alliance. "Our awards provide an opportunity to recognize these worthwhile programs and the environmental advocates behind them, which, we hope, will inspire others to follow their lead."

"Award funding comes from the Dominion Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the economic, physical and social health of the communities our companies serve," notes Bruce Klink, Dominion East Ohio president.

The Northeast Ohio Environmental Awards are open to any group, program, organization, business or individual located and working in the following counties: Allen, Ashland, Ashtabula, Auglaize, Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Guernsey, Hardin, Holmes, Knox, Lake, Mahoning, Medina, Mercer, Monroe, Noble, Paulding, Portage, Putnam, Shelby, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, Tuscarawas, Van Wert, Washington and Wayne.

Winners of the 2008 Northeast Ohio Environmental Awards in their respective categories were:

Primary/Secondary Education:

• West Geauga High School's Wetlands Education Team (WET) is a student-founded and led organization devoted to conserving and protecting Ohio's wetlands.
• Massillon Middle School's Stop Global Warming (SGW) Club is a student group, whose more than 100 members worked to educate students and the community on the importance of recycling and reducing demand for limited natural resources; instituting active recycling programs; and creating a wildlife habitat to offset carbon emissions and encourage wildlife.

Higher Education:  In 2005, Case Western Reserve University developed a strategic plan for sustainability to help reduce its environmental impact in a financially prudent way. The university has implemented projects to conserve and capture water, refresh aquifers and prevent storm drain runoff into Lake Erie.

Community: EarthWatch Ohio is a statewide nonprofit organization working to create a sustainable future for Ohio. The organization publishes EarthWatch Ohio, a bi-monthly environmental newspaper distributed free of charge at more than 2,000 locations throughout 12 Northeast Ohio communities to educate Ohioans about environmental issues and promote sustainability.

Interested individuals can send nomination materials electronically to bioalliance@cmnh.org. If unable to send electronically, entrants can mail completed nomination materials to:

Biodiversity Alliance
11030 East Boulevard
Cleveland, Ohio 44106

Prospective entrants can find nomination materials and applications online at www.biodiversityalliance.org or www.dom.com.

For more information on the 2009 Northeast Ohio Environmental Awards, contact Cathi Lehn at (216) 708-2826 or e-mail her at clehn@cbgarden.org.

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of more than 27,400 megawatts of generation, 1.2 trillion cubic feet equivalent of proved natural gas and oil reserves, 14,000 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipeline and 6,000 miles of electric transmission lines. Dominion operates the nation's largest natural gas storage facility with 975 billion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves retail energy customers in 12 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at http://www.dom.com/.

SOURCE Dominion East Ohio