Columbus to Improve Wastewater Treatment; Receives Financing from Ohio EPA
WASHINGTON, D.C. – August 31, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — Columbus is eliminating incineration and increasing the beneficial reuse of biosolids at its Southerly Wastewater Treatment Plant. With low-interest financing from Ohio EPA, the city will construct additional storage and handling facilities to manage all of the sludge generated through the wastewater treatment process and eliminate the need for incineration as one of the disposal options.
This change will help improve air quality by eliminating the emission of pollutants through the existing incineration process and help the city comply with air pollution standards which will become effective in 2016.
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 on the $43 million loan will save Columbus $6.5 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.
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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.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Heather Lauer
CITIZEN CONTACT: Kristopher Weiss
