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EPA joins U.S. Congressman Bennie Thompson to Announce the Kick-off of a more than $900,000 Wastewater Treatment System Project in Lamont, Bolivar County, MS

Release Date: 07/07/2010
Contact Information: Dawn Harris-Young, (404) 562-8421, harris-young.dawn@epa.gov

(ATLANTA – February 22, 2010) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Regional Administrator Stan Meiburg today joined Congressman Bennie Thompson and a host of state and local officials at a news conference in c to announce the start of construction of a wastewater treatment system costing approximately $1 million in Bolivar County, MS. Of the $1 million, Bolivar County received approximately $500,000 from EPA in addition to approximately $500,000 from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Community Development Block Grant program.

“This project represents a sustainable approach to solving problems in communities with inadequate or nonexistent wastewater treatment,” said Stan Meiburg. “We are delighted at this opportunity to work with Congressman Bennie Thompson and other strong partners at the federal, state and local level to invest in communities and protect human health and the environment.”

Initially, the Lamont project in early 2008 was to be a grinder pump collection system, package activated sludge treatment system, followed by land application. Following discussions with EPA, the project was modified to a Decentralized Wastewater System. This type of system can be a sustainable approach for rural, underserved communities, because it will utilize simple treatment processes with several advantages over traditional wastewater alternatives, such as simple operation and maintenance, lower energy requirements, lower operation, lower maintenance costs, and an opportunity to reuse wastewater.