FREDERICA – Clean-water projects including sewage-treatment plants, storm water runoff facilities and flood-control projects are set to get a boost of more than $9 million in state and federal funding under plans announced by Governor Jack Markell (D) on Thursday.
Gov. Markell proposed $2.6 million in additional state funding, to come from a projected increase in state revenues, allowing Delaware to leverage $7.2 million in a federal grant for capital spending.
The plan would provide $600,000 to build and operate a groundwater monitoring network in southern New Castle County and northern Kent County. It would also allocate $2 million to the Delaware Clean Water State Revolving Fund which supports infrastructure projects.
The money represents state help for projects that cities and counties aren’t likely to be able to afford otherwise, Markell said during a ceremony at the Kent County Wastewater Treatment Facility.
“This is something that one party can’t do on its own,” Markell said. “It requires capital beyond local government budgets.”
Among $66 million worth of applications to the Revolving Fund, officials have selected three clean-water projects totaling $4.3 million for funding. They are:
- $1.14 million to install county sewer service in east Dover, eliminating on-site septic systems;
- $1.7 million to the City of Wilmington to manage sewer overflows in the Kentmere and Union areas;
- $1.5 million to the City of Wilmington for sampling and monitoring flows into the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
At the ceremony, the Kent County facility received an award from the Environmental Protection Agency for its internationally recognized sustainability projects including installation of 6,000 solar panels, three greenhouses for solar drying of waste sludge, and a disinfection system that uses ultraviolet light rather than chemicals.
EPA Regional Administrator Shawn Garvin presented the EPA’s PISCES award for “performance and innovation in the state revolving fund creating environmental success.”
Hans Medlarz, director of the Kent County Department of Public Works, said the wastewater treatment facility was the first in the world to be certified by both the International Organization for Standardization and the National Biosolids Partnership because of its groundbreaking work on sustainability and health & safety practices for its workers. It has maintained the certification for the last four years, he said.
The facility’s use of photovoltaic cells and solar hot water heaters has cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent; its electricity use by 20 percent, and its natural gas consumption by 15 percent, Medlarz said.
Collin O’Mara, Secretary of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, said the state currently has 41 clean-water projects under construction, the most in the state’s history.
The proposed new funding “will help ensure cleaner, healthier bays, rivers and streams for years to come,” O’Mara said.
