FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Robbie Wilbur 601/961-5277
September 18, 2009 MDEQ ANNOUNCES $6.5 MILLION IN WASTEWATER FUNDING FOR CORINTH
(Jackson, Miss.) – The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) announced today that the City of Corinth has been approved for a subsidized low-interest loan of $6,571,000 for wastewater infrastructure improvements. The funding is being made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and the Water Pollution Control Revolving Loan Fund Program (WPCRLF) administered by MDEQ. The ARRA portion of the funding is a loan subsidy which will not have to be repaid. The WPCRLF portion will be repaid at a 1.75 percent interest rate over 20 years.
“We are pleased to award these funds to Corinth. Mayor Latch and other local leaders worked diligently to produce an outstanding application. Properly constructed and maintained wastewater facilities are integral to protecting our environment and the public’s health, and we know this infrastructure will be of great benefit to Corinth” said Trudy Fisher, MDEQ Executive Director.
“These Recovery Act-funded projects will improve critical infrastructure, promote public health and safety, and help to create and save jobs," said Congressman Travis Childers (D-MS). "This funding is further proof that Recovery Act is at work in the First Congressional District and throughout Mississippi."
“We appreciate the assistance of MDEQ with these funds. This is good news for the residents of Corinth, and because of this funding they will probably not have an increase in their sewer rates,” said Corinth Mayor Jerry Latch.
The City of Corinth will receive $6,571,000 for a pumping station, four miles of 30 inch sewer force main, a cascade aeration unit, a flow monitoring system, and other equipment needed to move the effluent outfall from Elam Creek to the Tuscumbia River Canal. The WPCRLF amount is $1,571,000 and the ARRA amount totals $5,000,000.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) appropriated $4.0 billion for Title VI EPA Capitalization Grants to the states’ Clean Water State Revolving Funds. Mississippi’s Water Pollution Control Revolving Loan Fund (WPCRLF), administered by MDEQ, received $35,308,350. ARRA funds will be used, along with base WPCRLF Program loan funds, to jointly fund projects with the ARRA portion of each award in the form of a loan subsidy
Prior to final passage and enactment of ARRA, MDEQ conducted a comprehensive outreach campaign to alert potential borrowers of the possible availability of federal economic recovery stimulus funding. MDEQ then amended the FY-2009 WPCRLF Intended Use Plan to implement the funding in the most efficient manner, while providing the most benefit to the state. Details on the application and award process are in the amended Intended Use Plan which is available at:
http://www.deq.state.ms.us/MDEQ.nsf/pdf/SRF_FY-09IUPAmendment1/$File/IUPFY-09AmendmentNo1FINAL.pdf?OpenElement.
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