March 23, 2006

Department of Environmental Quality Director Steven E. Chester has announced thirteen new loan commitments totaling over $37 million from the State Revolving Fund (SRF), Strategic Water Quality Initiatives Fund (SWQIF), and the Drinking Water Revolving Fund (DWRF). These programs provide local communities with the resources to make needed infrastructure improvements to wastewater collection and treatment facilities, and public drinking water systems.

“We continue to make unprecedented progress in protecting and enhancing Michigan’s water resources,” said Director Chester. “These projects not only create needed infrastructure improvements, but also represent a real investment in Michigan’s environmental and economic future.”

The funded SRF/SWQIF projects include:

• $18,855,000 to the city of Lansing to finance another segment of the
  city’s Long Term Combined Sewer Overflow Control Program. Upon
  eventual completion, the city’s 30-year effort will eliminate the
  discharge of raw sewage into the Grand River.  To date over $158
  million in SRF assistance has been awarded to Lansing for combined
  sewer separation.

• A $2,180,000 loan to the Malletts Creek Drainage District for the Brown
  Park Improvement Project in the city of Ann Arbor. The first nonpoint
  source improvement effort to receive SRF assistance in Michigan, the
  project will create a wetland detention area in Malletts Creek that will
  dramatically reduce levels of suspended solids and phosphorus into the
  Huron River.

• A loan of $2,860,000 to Eaton County for a new sewer system and
  wastewater treatment facility to serve residences around Narrow Lake
  in Brookfield Twp, allowing failed on-site systems to be taken out of
  service.

• Three loans totaling $5,935,000 to the city of Port Huron for on-going
  work to separate its combined sewer system. To date, Port Huron has
  received 13 loans totaling nearly $52 million for its sewer separation
  program designed to reduce the discharge of combined sewage into the
  Black and St. Clair Rivers.

• A SWQIF loan of $890,000 to the city of Ann Arbor, the third in a
  series of loans, for continuation of its footing drain disconnection
  program. The program will remove groundwater from the city’s sanitary
  sewer system and help prevent sanitary sewer overflows and basement
  back-ups.

• Today’s commitments bring SRF/SWQIF financing awarded to
  Michigan communities to date to over $2.3 billion. These projects are
  further examples of the commitments being made by local units of
  government in Michigan to ensure protection of the state’s valuable
  water resources and the public health of its citizens.

The funded DWRF projects include:

• $2,500,000 to the city of Galesburg to construct a new elevated
  storage tank and replace deteriorated water mains.

• A $345,000 loan to the village of Stockbridge for construction of
  improvements to its distribution system, including the replacement of
  water mains and the looping of dead ends to improve the quality and
  reliability of delivered water.

• $1,500,000 in loan assistance to the village of Brooklyn to construct a
  new elevated water storage tank, improve its distribution system, and
  upgrade its metering system.

• Three loans totaling $3,085,000 to the city of Port Huron for its long-
  term water main replacement program. To date the city has received
  12 loans totaling nearly $27 million. The water main work is being done
  concurrent with the city’s combined sewer separation program.

The improvements financed by these loans will ensure compliance with the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act and protect the public health of system users in these communities. Since the inception of Michigan’s DWRF program in 1998, over $387 million in assistance has been tendered.

Program interest rates remain well below open market rates, with Fiscal Year 2006 loans at 1.625 percent in the SRF/SWQIF and 2.125 percent in the DWRF.

Editor’s note: DEQ news releases are available on the department’s Internet home page at www.michigan.gov/deq.

“Protecting Michigan’s Environment, Ensuring Michigan’s Future”

Revised March 23, 2006 by Pat Watson