Akron Takes on Two Projects to Improve Wastewater Treatment with Ohio EPA Funds
The city of Akron will increase sewer capacity and construct a basin to capture sewer overflows while improving water quality Mud Run and the Little Cuyahoga River, thanks to a low-interest loan from Ohio EPA.
Akron will undertake a $5.05 million project to increase the capacity to convey sewage to the Mud Run pumping station in southwest Akron. A new, larger sanitary sewer will be constructed, which will help eliminate existing sewer overflows and basement sewage backup in the area.
In a second project, the city will borrow $18.3 million to construct a 1.93-million- gallon concrete storage basin required to eliminate sewer overflows in the Little Cuyahoga River, eliminating a major discharge point that threatens public health and degrades water quality.
Created in 1989, the Water Pollution Control Loan Fund (WPCLF) provides below-market interest rate loans for communities to improve their wastewater treatment systems. The reduced interest rate applied to the combined $23,337,071 loans will save Akron about $3.5 million compared to a conventional, market-rate loan.
Besides improvements to publicly owned treatment works, WPCLF loans have been provided for agricultural best management practices, home sewage system improvements, landfill closures and water quality-based storm water projects. The WPCLF provides technical assistance to public wastewater systems in a variety of areas from the planning, design and construction of improvements to enhancing the technical, managerial and financial capacity of these systems. WPCLF loans also make possible the restoration and protection of some of Ohio’s highest quality water bodies through the fund’s Water Resource Restoration Sponsor Program.
Ohio EPA’s revolving loan funds are partially supported by federal grants and designed to last indefinitely through repayment of loans and investments in bonds. The loan program is managed by Ohio EPA’s Division of Environmental and Financial Assistance, with assistance from the Ohio Water Development Authority. Ohio EPA is responsible for program development and implementation, individual project coordination, and environmental and other technical reviews/approvals of projects seeking funds. The Ohio Water Development Authority provides financial management of the fund.
More information about the WPCLF is available at: epa.ohio.gov/defa/EnvironmentalandFinancialAssistance.aspx.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1972 to consolidate efforts to protect and improve air quality, water quality and waste management in Ohio. Since then, air pollutants dropped by as much as 90 percent; large rivers meeting standards improved from 21 percent to 89 percent; and hundreds of polluting, open dumps were replaced with engineered landfills and an increased emphasis on waste reduction and recycling.
Contact
PUBLIC INTEREST CENTER, (614) 644-2160
MEDIA CONTACT: Linda Fee Oros
CITIZEN CONTACT: Mike Settles
