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Bluefield and Shady Spring Get Grants to Improve Wastewater Treatment

Release Date: 4/29/1999
Contact Information: Bonnie Smith (215) 814-5543

PHILADELPHIA - The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded two grants in West Virginia. Shady Spring Public Service District in Raleigh County will receive $840,000 to pay 80 percent of the costs of upgrading the district’s wastewater treatment system. The Sanitary Board of Bluefield will receive a $585,500 grant to cover 50 percent of the costs to construct a force main and pumping station serving Brush Fork, an area near Bluefield.

Many people take good water quality for granted. Much of the improvement in water quality can be attributed to wastewater treatment facilities. These grants are important steps in improving and maintaining public health and water quality," said W. Michael McCabe, EPA’s mid-Atlantic regional administrator.

The money comes from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), and EPA administers the federal funds in order to solve pollution problems in impoverished rural areas and safeguard public health and the environment. Last year, EPA awarded two ARC grants, one in Virginia and the other to the City of Mullens, W. Va.

The Shady Spring district will expand the capacity of its wastewater treatment plant from 800,000 gallons to 1.2 million gallons per day. As the community served by Shady Spring grows, the improved system will be able to meet future wastewater treatment needs. The present system is nearing maximum capacity. The improvements will be in place by the end of the year. With added capacity, new sewer lines can replace on-lot septic systems, which are failing at a high rate and causing water quality in Glade and Beaver creeks to deteriorate.