SALISBURY — Salisbury University graduate Chs. Grayson Laird of Crisfield, and seniors Bryce Machalek of Potomac and Emma Tarquino of Frederick joined together to create a bioremediation area in the parking lot of Blind Industries of Maryland.

This capstone project, which served to limit flooding and beautify the Old Ocean City Road property, was recognized by the President Citizens Scholars (PCS) program and scheduled to be celebrated during a ribbon cutting this week on Tuesday, Sept. 26.

The PCS program is in collaboration with the City of Salisbury. The scholars earned a nearly $5,00 grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust, a grant from the Lower Shore Land Trust, and a grant from ShoreCorps, to focus on bioremediation in Salisbury to help protect the Chesapeake Bay.

The students researched and planned the project to remove 16,000 sq. ft. of impervious surface, replace the site with soil, planting grass seed and white oaks. Rain barrels were installed as well to catch rainwater from the gutters so it could be used to water the plants.

Impervious surfaces flood the immediate area and exacerbate urban runoff as oil, car fluids and sediment pollution that settle on the parking lot run into drains, ditches and streams that empty into the bay.

Mr. Laird, a May graduate from SU’s Samuel W. and Marilyn C. Seidel School of Education and now a fifth grade math and science teacher at Woodson Elementary School, said being from Crisfield he’s seen “firsthand” the ruin floods cause to property and people’s lives.

“Maybe it doesn’t flood quite as often in Salisbury as it does in Crisfield, but to be involved in something that can help the community there, and BISM, I believe that would impact everyone on the Delmarva Peninsula.

“If everyone could see what we’ve done, that would just be one little straw of hay in the haystack of climate control and water levels rising.”

Blind Industries, which provides career and training resources to blind residents of Maryland, will save money on taxes for having less impervious surfaces outside it’s building, which was once a large home improvement store and at that time required a large parking lot.

Mr. Laird said when his science students get to the unit on climate and environmental issues, “I have real-world examples from my own experience with PCS that I can add to that conversation.”