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EPA awards $1.07 million grant to the Guam Waterworks Authority

Release Date: 10/19/2005
Contact Information: Dean Higuchi, 808-541-2711, higuchi.dean@epa.gov

HONOLULU - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently awarded a $1.07 million grant to the Guam Waterworks Authority for wastewater infrastructure improvements in Agat, Guam.

"The funding will be put to good use by Guam to improve and ensure proper wastewater disposal," said John McCarroll, manager of the EPA Pacific Southwest Region's Pacific Islands Office. "This project should protect public health by preventing untreated sewage from entering the ocean and should protect coral reefs by preventing extra nutrient loading in the water near Agat."

The funding was added to an existing EPA grant, for a current total of approximately $3.1 million for the design and construction of sewer collector lines in Agat. The total estimated cost of the project is $4.18 million and EPA will likely award additional grant funds as they become available to fully fund the project.

The new sewer collector lines will provide a more reliable sewer collection system to prevent sanitary sewer overflows and the bypassing of incoming wastewater from the Agat sewage treatment system. The project is currently in the early design phase with construction anticipated to start by mid-2006.

The Guam Waterworks Authority is currently under a stipulated order by the EPA and the completed project will help the Agat sewage treatment plant comply with its EPA discharge permit.

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