Over $451 Million Available to Improve Clean Water Infrastructure Projects Across the State

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the approval of $451.6 million in grants and low-cost loans to improve drinking water and wastewater infrastructure from New York City to Western New York. These projects will protect public health and the environment with cleaner water supplies while also create economic development opportunities.

The $451.6 million -- $7.9 million in grants and $443.7 million in low-cost financing -- was approved today by the Board of Directors of the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC). EFC is the arm of state government that provides low-cost financing to help local governments fund new drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in a more cost effective manner.

EFC finished the 2012-13 federal fiscal year with $1.93 billion in total financing – the largest, single-year total since EFC was created in 1990. Local governments and public authorities in New York will save nearly $247 million thanks to the subsidized loans provided by EFC.

"Investments to upgrade and expand water and wastewater systems ensure that communities have access to clean, healthy water," DEC Commissioner Joe Martens said. "These grants and loans demonstrate Governor Cuomo’s ongoing commitment to assist municipalities with water quality improvements projects that will protect their quality of life and create new opportunities to attract businesses and jobs.”

“Access to clean water is essential to ensuring the health of all New Yorkers,” State Health Commissioner Nirav R. Shah, MD, MPH, said. “I commend Governor Cuomo for his commitment to protecting the state’s drinking water and enhancing the well-being of our citizens.”

The Approved Water-Quality Projects Are:

New York City -- $350 million in subsidized, short-term loans to be used by the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority to support wastewater improvement projects by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection:

Bronx

· Upgrades to Step-Feed Biological Nutrient Removal and Sludge Digester Rehabilitation at Hunts Point Wastewater Treatment Plant

· Replacement of the Orchard Beach Station Pump Station

Brooklyn

- Upgrades to Achieve Secondary Treatment Capabilities at Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant including building reconstruction and disinfection, solids handling and headworks improvements.

· Interim Plant Upgrades for Biological Nutrient Removal, Regulator Reconstruction, Primary and Secondary Bar Screen Upgrades and Improvements to the Emergency Power Generators at 26th Ward Wastewater Treatment Plant

· Hypochlorite System Reconstruction for Residual Chlorine Reductions at Owl’s Head Wastewater Treatment Plant

· Knapp Street Laboratory/Environmental Learning Center Upgrades and Outfall Reconstruction at Coney Island Wastewater Treatment Plant

· Avenue V Pump Station Upgrades to the Coney Island Wastewater Treatment Plant

· Spring Creek Combined Sewer Facility upgrades

· Upgrades at the Avenue V Fort Hamilton Pump Station

Manhattan

· Upgrades to Bronx & Manhattan Grit Chambers, Primary Sludge Handling Equipment and Biological Nutrient Removal at Wards Island Wastewater Treatment Plant

Queens

· Chemical Bulk Storage Tank Replacement and Main Sewage Pump Upgrades at Bowery Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant

· Maximization of Wet Weather Flow for reduction of Combined Sewer Overflows at Tallman Island Wastewater Treatment Plant

· Stormwater conveyance improvements at Springfield Gardens

· Stabilization Improvements and Biological Nutrient Removal Upgrades at Jamaica Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant

· Reconstruction of the New Douglaston Pump Station

Staten Island

· Replacement of Boilers, Fuel Storage and Delivery Improvements at Port Richmond Wastewater Treatment Plant

· Main Electrical Substation Upgrades at Oakwood Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant

North Country

· Village of Antwerp (Jefferson County) $3,197,700 no-interest loan for improvements to the village’s Water Pollution Control Plant.

· Town of Clifton (St. Lawrence County) $2 million grant and $667,000 in a no-interest loan for the construction of a new wastewater collection and treatment system in the Town of Clifton.

· Town of Essex (Essex County) $1,146,341 grant and a $2,014,503 interest-free loan to develop a new drinking water source and improve the distribution system.

· Town of Morristown (St. Lawrence County) $1,062,697 interest-free loan to create a sewer collection system to replace septic systems along the St. Lawrence River.

Capital Region

· Village of Canajoharie (Montgomery County) $750,000 grant and a $1 million interest-free loan to modernize the village’s wastewater treatment plant.

· Town of Cobleskill (Schoharie County) $3,199,076 in interest-free and low-interest loans to construct a sanitary sewer collection system to serve the Route 7 corridor between the Village of Cobleskill and the Howe Caverns Facility.

· Village of Corinth (Saratoga County) $9,000,000 in interest-free financing for water distribution system improvements and a new water filtration facility to filter water from the Village of Corinth’s existing water wells.

· Town of East Greenbush (Rensselaer County) $13.7 million to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant and bring the plant into compliance with federal discharge requirements.

Central New York

· Town of West Monroe (Oswego County) a $2 million grant and a $7.65 million interest-free financing to improve its pump station and wastewater collection system, save local ratepayers an estimated $4 million in interest costs.

Hudson Valley

· Dutchess County Water and Wastewater Authority (Dutchess County) $2,757,500 interest-free financing to upgrade water service for the Shore Haven Water System in the Town of Pawling.

· Rockland County $43 million to complete wastewater collection systems and construct an advanced wastewater treatment plant within Rockland County Sewer District #1 – Western Ramapo area.

Southern Tier

· Village of South Corning (Steuben County) $1,303,500 low-interest financing to upgrade the water-distribution system and replace a storage tank.

Western New York

· Village of Bloomfield (Ontario County) $2,143,850 in no-interest and low-interest loans to improve the wastewater treatment plant.

· Village of Dansville (Livingston County) a $2 million grant and a $10.8 million, interest-free loan to upgrade the village’s wastewater treatment plant.

· West Valley Crystal Water Company (Cattaraugus County) $2,587,374 in a long-term, interest-free loan for construction of new water sources and improved distribution and storage.

Funding for wastewater projects is made available through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which is jointly administered by EFC and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Drinking water projects are financed through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund which is jointly administered by EFC and the Department of Health.

EFC manages the largest State Revolving Funds in the nation. Together, these funds have provided more than $15 billion in low-cost financing and grants for water-quality infrastructure across New York State.

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