HARRISBURG, Pa., May 9, 2003 -- A newly constituted PENNVEST Board of Directors initiated the Rendell Administration's PENNVEST funding activity by approving $85.4 million in low-interest loans and $13.3 million in grants to fund 35 drinking water, wastewater and storm water projects to serve communities in 23 counties across the Commonwealth.
The grants were targeted at 10 prohibitively expensive projects to bring them within the financial reach of their customers.
The state funding approved at the Board meeting ranges from $80,000 to fund construction of a storm water conveyance system for a community in Montgomery County to more than $10 million for construction of a new wastewater collection and treatment system that will eliminate discharges from malfunctioning septic systems in an area of Butler County.
The funding for today's projects brings PENNVEST'S total funding for community water, sewer and storm water projects to more than $3.0 billion since the program's inception.
Drinking Water
The PENNVEST Board approved funding for the following drinking water projects:
Bucks County
Quakertown Borough: $5,974,300 loan to replace more than eight miles of deteriorated water mains and almost 600 lateral lines, and make other improvements to eliminate water losses from leaking distribution lines and eliminate the health hazards created by the leaching of asbestos and iron into the drinking water.
Butler County
Harmony Borough Water Authority: $140,000 loan to construct almost 2,000 linear feet of water distribution and service lines and make other system improvements that will provide safe drinking water to residents whose wells are subject to total coliform and iron contamination.
Clarion County
Limestone Township General Municipal Authority: $571,500 loan to design a new public water system that will have almost 20 miles of water mains, a 250,000-gallon storage tank and other improvements to eliminate water outages that last up to a week and to provide safe drinking water to local residents, most of whom have private wells that have tested positive for total and fecal coliform contamination.
Redbank Valley Municipal Authority: $576,500 loan to construct a water system extension to the customers of the Cottage Hill Water Authority that will consist of more than two miles of distribution lines, a 100,000-gallon storage tank and a pump station. These customers now experience water outages that last as long as three days and are dependent on wells that are contaminated by fecal coliform bacteria.
Clearfield County
Ansonville Water Authority: $152,100 grant to conduct a complete feasibility study that will determine the most cost-effective alternative for providing safe and reliable drinking water to residents of the Village of Ansonville. Currently, the system serving these residents has inadequate pressure and provides unreliable service. Also, the existing springs are under the influence of surface water and therefore subject to bacterial contamination.
Irvona Municipal Authority: $1,022,805 loan and $889,195 grant to construct a new water treatment plant and 4,500 linear feet of distribution lines to eliminate the use of drinking water supply wells that are contaminated by high levels of iron, manganese and sulfide, and to treat the new surface water source that is subject to giardia and cryptosporidium contamination.
Erie County
Northeast Borough Water Authority: $8,655,000 loan to upgrade and expand the existing water treatment plant, install two pump stations and make other improvements that will ensure the continued removal of giardia and other contaminants from the system's drinking water. In addition, the expansion will accommodate the addition of 30 new permanent employees and the investment of $25 million by Welch Food, Inc., which is located in the Borough.
Huntingdon County
Alexandria Borough Water Authority: $995,422 loan and $454,578 grant to construct a new water treatment facility and a 100,000-gallon storage tank to provide reliable water service and eliminate the potential for giardia and cryptosporidium contamination that the existing treatment plant is unable to filter.
Potter County
Coudersport Borough Authority: $7,877,743 loan to construct new water treatment facilities on both the north and east sides of the Borough, three new wells, a booster pump station and a 500,000-gallon water storage tank, as well as replace more than five miles of distribution lines. These improvements will provide water yield sufficient to meet demand, provide effective disinfection, remove iron and manganese contamination and eliminate leaking distribution lines that currently lose 48 percent of the water they carry.
Schuylkill County
Blythe Township Municipal Authority: $1,091,862 loan to rehabilitate an unsafe reservoir dam, thereby ensuring a continued supply of drinking water and eliminating the threat of flooding to 457 residences and 35 commercial properties.
Washington County
Tri County Joint Municipal Authority: $106,313 loan and $263,687 grant to construct more than a mile of distribution lines along Pigeon Creek Road in Somerset Township, where 42 percent of the existing private drinking water wells are contaminated by fecal coliform bacteria.
Wastewater
The PENNVEST Board approved funding for the following wastewater projects:
Armstrong County
Rayburn Township Joint Municipal Authority: $172,325 loan and $2,649,700 grant to construct almost five miles of collection lines to serve the Grandview and Troy Hill areas of the township, where 70 percent of the on-lot septic systems are malfunctioning and discharging raw sewage into yards, roadways and Cowanshannock Creek. The project also will provide service to the Armstrong County Correctional Facility.
Bedford County
Chestnut Ridge Area Joint Municipal Authority: $3,918,000 loan to construct almost 12 miles of collection lines and two pump stations to provide service to 279 new connections in portions of Napier Township, New Paris Borough and West Saint Claire Township, where malfunctioning on-lot septic systems are contaminating half of the drinking water wells with coliform bacteria.
Bucks County
Quakertown Borough: $3,712,608 loan to either slipline or replace almost seven miles of sewage collection lines and 724 sewer laterals to eliminate significant inflows into the system that are overloading the treatment facility and causing local stream contamination problems.
Butler County
Middlesex Township: $10,196,000 loan to construct a new sewage treatment plant, a pump station and more than 43 miles of collection lines, interceptors and force mains that will service households where existing on-lot systems are malfunctioning and discharging untreated sewage into publicly accessible areas.
Centre County
Huston Township Authority: $469,723 loan and $1,723,627 grant to construct a package treatment plant, collection sewers and force mains to serve 106 homes in the Village of Julian, where malfunctioning on-lot septic systems are discharging untreated sewage into roadside ditches and contaminating local drinking water supplies.
Erie County
Gary and Cindy Freligh Mobile Home Park: $161,000 loan to construct a new sewage treatment facility to replace a failed on-lot system that is serving 21 mobile homes and four apartment units. The existing system is discharging untreated sewage into a nearby stream.
Fayette County
Colonial Joint Sewage Authority: $2,817,998 loan and $1,984,542 grant to construct a new wastewater treatment plant, two pump stations and more than nine miles of collection lines to serve the Grindstone, Rowes Run and Red Hill areas of Jefferson and Redstone townships, where wildcat sewers are discharging raw sewage directly into Redstone Creek.
Markleysburg Borough: $41,403 loan and $2,467,597 grant to construct a new wastewater collection and treatment system to serve the Borough and an adjacent portion of Henry Clay Township, where on-lot septic systems are malfunctioning and discharging raw sewage into yards, roadways and a tributary of Pinkham Run.
North Union Township Municipal Services Authority: $5,925,000 loan to construct approximately twenty-two miles of sanitary sewers and one pump station to serve the Hopwood and Coolspring areas of the Township, where 31 percent of the on-lot septic systems are malfunctioning and discharging raw sewage into yards, roadways and both Spring Run and Shiley Run.
Greene County
Center Township: $122,500 loan to design a sewage collection and treatment system to serve the Village of Rogersville, currently served by a wildcat sewer system that is discharging raw sewage directly into Ten Mile Creek.
Lawrence County
Wilmington Township Sewer Authority: $1,854,801 loan and $930,014 grant to construct more than five miles of new sewers and two pump stations to replace malfunctioning on-lot septic systems that are discharging raw sewage into publicly accessible areas.
Luzerne County
Little Washington Wastewater Company: $2,021,700 loan to construct almost ten miles of sewage collection and conveyance lines and 225 grinder pumps to eliminate the use of malfunctioning on-lot septic systems that are contaminating both Penn Lake and Wright's Creek with fecal coliform bacteria.
Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority: $7,188,000 loan to remove an impoundment and construct 7,000 feet of storm sewers that will eliminate both flooding and acid mine drainage that is currently contaminating both Solomon Creek and the Susquehanna River.
Montgomery County
The Upper Hanover Authority: $1,538,191 loan to construct sewage collection lines, a pump station and force main to eliminate the use of on-lot septic systems in the Village of Palm that are discharging inadequately treated sewage into Perkiomen Creek, which is upstream from the East Greenville and Philadelphia Suburban surface water supplies. In addition, the project will allow for the expansion and economic development of a commercial/industrial area that will result in the creation of ten new permanent jobs.
Northumberland County
Kulpmont-Marion Heights Joint Municipal Authority: $3,000,000 loan to upgrade the wastewater treatment plant and increase the carrying capacity of the collection and transmission lines to eliminate system overloading and wet weather bypasses of untreated sewage into Dark Run.
Somerset County
Elk Lick Township: $220,000 loan to design new sanitary sewers, force main and pump stations to serve the Villages of Boynton and North and South Salisbury in Elk Township, where wildcat sewers are discharging raw sewage directly into the Casselman River.
Borough of Shanksville: $58,270 loan and $1,791,730 grant to construct approximately two miles of wastewater collection lines, two pump stations and a sewage treatment facility to serve the Borough and the adjacent portion of Stonycreek Township, where wildcat sewers are discharging raw sewage directly into Stony Creek.
Susquehanna County
Silver Lake Township Municipal Authority: $953,014 loan to construct a new wastewater treatment facility, grinder pumps and almost three miles of sewer mains to eliminate the use of malfunctioning on-lot septic systems that are discharging sewage in the vicinity of Silver Lake and the Edward L. Rose Conservancy.
Tioga County
Charleston Township Municipal Authority: $5,557,767 loan to construct more than 15 miles of sewer mains and laterals, seven pump stations and 56 grinder pumps to eliminate the use of four small, privately owned sewage treatment plants and malfunctioning on-lot septic systems in the Village of Whitneyville that are discharging untreated sewage into publicly accessible areas.
Warren County
Pine Grove Township: $1,300,000 loan to construct more than seven miles of gravity and pressure sewers and eight grinder pumps to serve areas of the Township where malfunctioning on-lot septic systems are discharging inadequately treated sewage into publicly accessible areas.
Washington County
Municipal Authority of the City of Monongahela: $5,952,100 loan to construct new sewage treatment facilities in order to eliminate wet weather bypasses of inadequately treated sewage into the Monongahela River.
South Strabane Township Sanitary Authority: $357,575 loan to construct more than a mile of sanitary sewers to serve the Lakeview Drive and East Beau Street areas of the Township, where malfunctioning on-lot septic systems are discharging raw sewage into yards, roadways and a tributary of Chartiers Creek.
Storm Water
The PENNVEST Board approved funding for the following storm water projects:
Lancaster County
East Hempfield Township: $750,000 loan to construct new storm sewers in three areas of the Township that will eliminate basement flooding and ponding in roads, streets and backyards.
Montgomery County
Borough of Schwenksville: $80,000 loan to construct a storm water conveyance system along both Third Street and Maple Avenue to eliminate icing and ponding in streets and backyards due to inadequate storm water control.
