scotty80
07-14-2006, 08:07 PM
Preliminary construction began months ago but, here is the story from, http://www.cecilwhig.com/articles/2006/07/14/news/01.txt
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After years of planning and official hand wringing, the town of Elkton symbolically broke ground Thursday on a $41 million wastewater treatment plant slated for completion in 2008.
“This is the most ambitious and expensive project ever undertaken by the town,” Elkton Mayor Joseph Fisona told a crowd of about 30 local, state and federal dignitaries on hand for the event. “We’re very proud that through cooperation with various levels of government we’ve been able to get to this point.”
The sewer upgrade project was initially sparked by tighter federal and state requirements relating to nutrient levels in the treated water that sewer plants return to the state’s waterways.
Maryland’s Department of the Environment believes those elements, along with agricultural runoff, are contributing to the presence of dangerous algae blooms in the Chesapeake Bay. In turn, those algae blooms have been linked to a decline of marine life in the nation’s largest freshwater estuary.
In 2004 Gov. Robert Ehrlich signed the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Act, which established an annual $30 fee levied on all municipal sewer and private septic users in the state.
Money collected by the so-called “flush tax” is to be distributed in the form of grants to help municipalities upgrade the state’s 66 largest sewage treatment plants.
MDE officials said Thursday that once upgraded, the 66 improved plants should eliminate 7.5 million pounds of nitrogen and 260,000 pounds of phosphorus from the bay each year.
So far, only two of the state’s largest treatment plants have completed their upgrades, while nine other projects are underway. Elkton will be the 10th upgrade project in the state since 2004, according to MDE officials.
Of the estimated $41 million cost of the upgrade, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to contribute $626,000. The state, meanwhile, has awarded a $10.5 million grant with another $6.5 million expected next year.
The state has also agreed to loan the town $23 million at a nominal interest rate to temporarily cover the municipality’s share of the project cost.
Repaying that loan will be the responsibility of Elkton’s sewer customers who have been assessed two 20-percent rate hikes in the past two years.
Because past administrations opted to hold the line on the county seat’s sewer rates for more than a decade, virtually no funding was available to pay down any of the town’s impending debt service in advance.
Last year, Fisona and the town board approved a 20-percent increase in the municipal sewer rates just to keep up with the cost of maintaining the existing plant.
This year, Elkton’s elected officials approved a 22-percent increase to help cover the debt service on the new sewer plant.
Yet, three more rate hikes likely will have to be approved if the town is going to repay the loan within a 20-year timeline, according to an independent consultant hired by Elkton this summer.
“It’s true that this effort will likely cause sewer rates to rise across the state, so Elkton is not alone in that,” said Robert M. Summers, MDE’s director of water management, who was on hand for Thursday’s groundbreaking. “But remember, most of the state’s sewer systems were built decades ago and have not been adequately maintained. It’s our job to make sure that those systems meet environmental requirements in the years ahead.”
In addition to meeting the state’s nutrient removal standards, the upgrade project will also add 500,000 gallons a day of additional sewer capacity for the residential and commercial growth anticipated within the town’s borders over the coming decade.
With urging from Elkton’s elected officials, the project will also include several measures designed to significantly reduce the offensive odors that emanate from the existing plant.
On Thursday, several state officials commended the town for its courage and fortitude in making tough decisions for the right reasons.
“It shows foresight, concern and heart to make the Elk River a better tributary than it is today,” said Ronald Guns, a former state delegate from Cecil County who currently serves as the deputy secretary of Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources. “And it shows that we can win the battle to save the bay one tributary at a time as long as we have partners like the town of Elkton.”
Under a state order issued in January, Galway Bay Corp., the Pennsylvania-based company hired to complete the construction project must have the new plant up and running by September 2008 or Elkton could face daily fines imposed by the state.
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After years of planning and official hand wringing, the town of Elkton symbolically broke ground Thursday on a $41 million wastewater treatment plant slated for completion in 2008.
“This is the most ambitious and expensive project ever undertaken by the town,” Elkton Mayor Joseph Fisona told a crowd of about 30 local, state and federal dignitaries on hand for the event. “We’re very proud that through cooperation with various levels of government we’ve been able to get to this point.”
The sewer upgrade project was initially sparked by tighter federal and state requirements relating to nutrient levels in the treated water that sewer plants return to the state’s waterways.
Maryland’s Department of the Environment believes those elements, along with agricultural runoff, are contributing to the presence of dangerous algae blooms in the Chesapeake Bay. In turn, those algae blooms have been linked to a decline of marine life in the nation’s largest freshwater estuary.
In 2004 Gov. Robert Ehrlich signed the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Act, which established an annual $30 fee levied on all municipal sewer and private septic users in the state.
Money collected by the so-called “flush tax” is to be distributed in the form of grants to help municipalities upgrade the state’s 66 largest sewage treatment plants.
MDE officials said Thursday that once upgraded, the 66 improved plants should eliminate 7.5 million pounds of nitrogen and 260,000 pounds of phosphorus from the bay each year.
So far, only two of the state’s largest treatment plants have completed their upgrades, while nine other projects are underway. Elkton will be the 10th upgrade project in the state since 2004, according to MDE officials.
Of the estimated $41 million cost of the upgrade, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to contribute $626,000. The state, meanwhile, has awarded a $10.5 million grant with another $6.5 million expected next year.
The state has also agreed to loan the town $23 million at a nominal interest rate to temporarily cover the municipality’s share of the project cost.
Repaying that loan will be the responsibility of Elkton’s sewer customers who have been assessed two 20-percent rate hikes in the past two years.
Because past administrations opted to hold the line on the county seat’s sewer rates for more than a decade, virtually no funding was available to pay down any of the town’s impending debt service in advance.
Last year, Fisona and the town board approved a 20-percent increase in the municipal sewer rates just to keep up with the cost of maintaining the existing plant.
This year, Elkton’s elected officials approved a 22-percent increase to help cover the debt service on the new sewer plant.
Yet, three more rate hikes likely will have to be approved if the town is going to repay the loan within a 20-year timeline, according to an independent consultant hired by Elkton this summer.
“It’s true that this effort will likely cause sewer rates to rise across the state, so Elkton is not alone in that,” said Robert M. Summers, MDE’s director of water management, who was on hand for Thursday’s groundbreaking. “But remember, most of the state’s sewer systems were built decades ago and have not been adequately maintained. It’s our job to make sure that those systems meet environmental requirements in the years ahead.”
In addition to meeting the state’s nutrient removal standards, the upgrade project will also add 500,000 gallons a day of additional sewer capacity for the residential and commercial growth anticipated within the town’s borders over the coming decade.
With urging from Elkton’s elected officials, the project will also include several measures designed to significantly reduce the offensive odors that emanate from the existing plant.
On Thursday, several state officials commended the town for its courage and fortitude in making tough decisions for the right reasons.
“It shows foresight, concern and heart to make the Elk River a better tributary than it is today,” said Ronald Guns, a former state delegate from Cecil County who currently serves as the deputy secretary of Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources. “And it shows that we can win the battle to save the bay one tributary at a time as long as we have partners like the town of Elkton.”
Under a state order issued in January, Galway Bay Corp., the Pennsylvania-based company hired to complete the construction project must have the new plant up and running by September 2008 or Elkton could face daily fines imposed by the state.