At a virtual press conference held last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest, Martha Guzman, announced a $250 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan to the Union Sanitary District in Union City, California.
The WIFIA loan will help fund upgrades to the District’s aging water infrastructure to provide better wastewater treatment, reduce nutrient discharges to the San Francisco Bay, and increase resiliency to the impacts of climate change. Union Sanitary District operates a 33-acre wastewater treatment facility that serves over 357,000 customers in Fremont, Newark, and Union City. The District’s Enhanced Treatment and Site Upgrade Phase 1 Projects will support implementation of the San Francisco Bay Nutrient Management Strategy by improving treatment quality for up to 33 million gallons of wastewater per day.
The project will reduce 50 percent of the facility’s nitrogen discharges and 90 percent of its ammonia discharges to the San Francisco Bay on an annual basis. In addition to improving water quality in the Bay, the projects are also designed to bolster the facility’s resilience to wet weather events and the impacts of climate change.
“Through the WIFIA program, we are improving California’s water infrastructure to better deliver safe drinking water, protect our natural resources, and build stronger, more resilient local economies,” said Martha Guzman, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “We are happy to support Union Sanitary District and their project, which will help protect our cherished San Francisco Bay, and we look forward to accelerating investments in water infrastructure under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”
“This federal support is the financial cornerstone of USD’s Enhanced Treatment and Site Upgrade (ETSU) Phase 1 program, a multi-year improvement project that provides significant engineering, operational, and environmental benefits,” said General Manager Paul Eldredge. “USD is proud to collaborate with the EPA to proactively improve water quality in the San Francisco Bay through enhanced wastewater treatment processes and nutrient removal as we renew and replace aging infrastructure for the 21st century. The EPA’s low-cost financing will help ensure modernized, reliable, cost-effective service to customers and will deliver benefits to the San Francisco Bay Area for many years to come.”
With EPA’s WIFIA loan, the Union Sanitary District will save approximately $50 million over the life of the project, which will support regional efforts to protect water quality in the San Francisco Bay. Project construction and operation are expected to create an estimated 1,630 jobs and construction is expected to be completed in 2028.
“I greatly appreciate our Board of Directors’ foresight regarding the District’s infrastructure planning as we carefully developed a long-term strategy to meet today’s challenges while preparing for Fremont, Newark, and Union City’s wastewater needs for the next 40 years,” said Eldredge. “The Board’s guidance and counsel are vital as we move forward with ETSU’s essential projects.”
Within the first year of the Biden-Harris administration, EPA has closed 29 WIFIA loans measuring over $5 billion in communities across the country.
