Merck & Co. will give $2.9 million to seven environmental projects along the Wissahickon Creek watershed, the site of three chemical releases in 2006 - including one that killed more than 1,000 fish.

The announcement is part of a 2008 agreement with the pharmaceutical company, the U.S. Department of Justice and the state of Pennsylvania to resolve Clean Water Act violations stemming from the releases from Merck's West Point facility in Upper Gwynedd.

"We are pleased with the final list of the Supplemental Environmental Projects that will be funded through this settlement," Karen Klimas, Merck vice president of global safety and environment, said in a statement. "The entire Wissahickon Valley Watershed will benefit from improved water quality and an enhanced ecosystem."

Upper Gwynedd will receive the largest grant, $890,000 to install an ultraviolet-light disinfection device at its water treatment plant. The system will kill pathogens, improve wastewater quality, prevent chlorine interaction with other chemicals and reduce the production of trihalomethanes, a carcinogen.

Merck agreed to pay more than $20 million to resolve the chemical spills, including $10 million to upgrade its facilities to prevent future discharges, and $9 million for large-scale environmental projects. The grants announced Thursday are the final portion of that $9 million, said West Point spokeswoman Connie Wickersham.

The grants were awarded to:

-- Friends of the Wissahickon, $780,656 for a sediment reduction project to improve water quality, protect drinking water sources and enhance the watershed habitat;

-- Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association, $650,624 for a plan to improve water quality and reduce the velocity and volume of flooding along the creek;

-- Abington Township, $249,000 for a stream bank restoration project along the Sandy Run Creek;

-- Springfield Township, $222,600 for a stream bank restoration project for the Paper Mill Run, a Wissahickon Creek tributary;

-- Ambler, $59,650 for the Rose Valley Creek riparian buffer project in a borough park; and

-- North Wales, $47,470 for a project to improve water quality with a new storm water management system at the Center Street Basin.