Lawmakers Announce Water and Sewer Grants for Fayette County

HARRISBURG, July 14, 2009 – State Senator Richard A. Kasunic, and Representatives Tim Mahoney, Deberah Kula, Peter Daley and Ted Harhai today announced six state grants totaling over $5 million for water and sewer projects in Fayette County.

“This funding will enable Fayette County officials to proceed with needed repairs to sewer and water systems,” Kasunic said. “I am pleased that state dollars are being made available for these important projects during these difficult economic times.”

Mahoney added,”These state dollars will improve the quality and reliability of our water infrastructure. “This funding will help stoke our economy.”

Kula noted, “We worked closely with local officials to identify important water and wastewater projects, and teamed up to obtain optimum state dollars for these projects.”
Daley said, “This funding will improve our regional infrastructure and make Fayette County more attractive to families and businesses interested in relocating.

Harhai said the legislative delegation would continue to seek state funding sources to help fund local projects. “We cannot hope to position our communities to fully capitalize on stimulus efforts without a safe and dependable water infrastructure in place.”

The projects include:

• The Municipal Authority Washington Township will receive $950,000 to assist with the Sanitary Sewage System project to eliminate malfunctioning on-lot and open sewer swales by installing. Workers will install 138,000 LF of gravity sewer, 17,600 LF of force mains, 11,100 LF of interceptor sewer, and three sewage pumping stations in Washington Township.
• North Fayette County Municipal Authority will receive $1 million for the Works Hill and Hague Lane Storage Tanks to provide additional public water capacity to commercial and residential areas during high volume demand, provide public water during outage events and to provide fire protection in Dunbar Township.
• North Fayette County Municipal Authority will receive $1 million to install a new 24" ductile iron public water transmission line along the existing 110-year-old 24" cast iron line beginning at the Porter Hill Reservoir and extending 23,000 feet to Industrial Park Booster to ensure a constant supply of water in Dunbar Township.
• North Fayette County Municipal Authority will receive $600,000 to help with water distribution system upgrades by replacing the existing undersized and deteriorating distribution system with 21,580 feet of 6" water main, eight fire hydrants and associated system valving in North Union Township. The project will replace an aging water line and ensure a constant supply of water.
• National Pike Water Authority will receive $1 million for a US 40 water extension in Wharton Township. The project consists of extending water line into parts of the township that do not have access to public water.
• Municipal Authority of Belle Vernon will receive $500,000 for a Sewage Plant Expansion that entails expansion of the existing sewage treatment plant required to accept the sewage generated from the Washington Township sewer project. The plant is being expanded from 0.5 MGD to 1 MGD by changing the process from extended aeration to contact stabilization.

The funds are part of the H20 PA Act, a state program designed to help municipalities and authorities pay for repairs to their water, sewer, and flood control systems. The program is funded with gaming proceeds through the Pennsylvania Gaming Economic Development and Tourism Fund.

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