HARRISBURG, Pa., March 21, 2001 — The Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) today approved $83.3 million in low-interest loans and $12.9 million in grants for 40 drinking water, wastewater and stormwater projects to serve communities in 31 counties across the Commonwealth.
The grants, provided under Gov. Tom Ridge's "Growing Greener" initiative, were targeted at 13 prohibitively expensive projects to bring them within the financial reach of their customers.
"`Growing Greener' is helping to create a cleaner, greener Pennsylvania," said Gov. Ridge, PENNVEST Chairman. "Through PENNVEST, we are providing nearly $13 million in `Growing Greener' grants for projects that may not have been possible otherwise.
"With these new projects, PENNVEST has approved $223 million in loans, and $33 million in `Growing Greener' grants this year. It's money well spent — to keep our environment clean — our communities safe — and to preserve our incomparable quality of life."
The state funding approved at today's Board meeting ranges from $50,000 to help design a drinking water storage and distribution system to serve the Cottage Hill area in Clarion County, to $15,702,645 to construct a new wastewater-collection system and treatment plant to serve the Economy Borough Municipal Authority in Beaver County.
The funding for today's projects brings PENNVEST'S total funding for community water and sewer projects to more than $2.5 billion since the program's inception.
