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Program To Clean San Jose Creek Will Employ Homeless

SAN JOSE (CBS/AP) - A new program meant to help clean San Jose's polluted Coyote Creek by eliminating trash from homeless encampments and other sources would employ some homeless people and help them find housing.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, San Jose's Mayor Chuck Reed and other groups on Thursday announced nearly $1 million in funding for the program called Clean Creeks, Healthy Communities.

KCBS' Mike Colgan Reports:

The program starts in July and lasts through June 2015, and will provide some of the creek's estimated 100 homeless residents with jobs and temporary housing until they can find permanent housing.

In the past three years, the Santa Clara County Water District has pulled 300 tons of trash from homeless encampments and other areas along the creek, which is a major source of trash for San Francisco Bay.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services may have contributed to this report.)

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