The loans from EPA will supplement the funding of the two states in improving their drinking water and wastewater projects
Image: EPA to advance loans in two US states, Washington and Oregon. Photo: Courtesy of Arek Socha/Pixabay
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has agreed to provide loans totaling $84.4m to two states Washington and Oregon, in support of drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects.
For Washington, EPA has agreed to offer $52.1m, which will be part of the state’s $22m plan for drinking water and $120m plan to improve wastewater infrastructure.
For Oregon, the agency will provide $32.2m, which will be part of the $35m for drinking water projects and $190m for improving wastewater and irrigated agriculture infrastructure.
In Washington, a funding of $24.5m will be provided by the EPA for the projects on the state’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Intended Use Plan, with $5.5m in state matching funds.
Similarly, a $27.6m EPA grant will be provided under Washington’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund Intended Use Plan, with $5.5m in state matching funds.
The agency’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund program offers below-market rate loans to build drinking water treatment facilities and other projects vital to ensure the delivery of clean and safe drinking water.
The loans will help communities in keeping water rates affordable while addressing local water infrastructure challenges.
Projects supported by the funding
Some of the projects in Washington that will be supported by the funding will include the City of Auburn for the replacement of lead goosenecks. For this, nearly $3.03m will be allocated. The funding will be used for replacing more than 700 of the fixtures in the City’s distribution system that will help reduce the risk to human health from exposure to lead in drinking water.
A $2.13m funding will also be allocated to Olympic Water and Sewer for an arsenic treatment facility for its wells. Apart from reducing exposure to arsenic, the treatment will also remove high levels of iron and manganese.
Similarly, in the state of Oregon, $14.4m will be granted by the EPA as a source of funding to the state’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Intended Use Plan, with $2.8m in state matching funds.